Hurricane Irene

I just wanted to do a quick post before the rains come in. You never know what kind of apocalypse is around the corner. If you believe the news on every channel it's going to be all kinds of crazy. I've told Timon that if it all goes to hell we should eat the kittens first, not Sophie. Her parents will not be pleased.

I didn't know anything about this hurricane thing until my bosses sent out a WARNING email that, frankly, made me laugh. Then my boss rang as well to tell me we were closing over the weekend to be safe. I was slightly mad because I really need the cash, and slightly glad because I love having days off. I had this fanciful idea that I would spend the weekend seeing lots of movies at various cinemas around town. There are heaps of good films on at the moment. I was wrong about that. My boss rang one more time to ask if Timon and I were prepared. That's when I started to get suspicious. What is this hurricane thing they speak of? And why should I be concerned?

It seems the biggest worries are the loss of power, contamination of water, flooding and smashed windows. Luckily we're on the 5th floor so I'm not too concerned about flooding. Our building is also at the top of a medium hill. Contamination of water - not so bad. I mostly drink wine anyway. Smashed windows aren't really my problem, that's the landlord's problem yeah? We'll just move into the lounge room. Loss of power would be catastrophic. No TV! No computer! No microwave! Kill me now.

So I read up on the internets and watched a bit of the news. We went out and bought some canned pineapple, a couple of water bottles and some candles. We got cash out in case the ATMs die and we have to barter on the street. We have wine and chips up the wazoo. Sophie is staying over so we have a cosy, camping out type of vibe. I like being inside so it's not so bad......yet. My local stores were out of bread which scared me. I always get uneasy when supermarkets close - I'm no good at hunting for my own food. People were going nuts for batteries in the 99cents store. We locked ourselves inside at about 1pm and have watched a couple of movies in between the endless news streams.

The subway is shut down. Fox 5 tells me this hasn't happened since 9/11. They also tell me a storm of this calibre hasn't been seen since the 1930s. I'm impressed that the deli over the road is still open. I wonder if they'll be there when I wake up. Anyway, I'm off to bed. Shit is supposed to go down early in the morning. Stay tuned...........

Some other stuff that happened

I definitely forgot to mention that Timon and I got new tattoos. After months of deliberation we did the deed at Fun City, a Lower East Side tattoo parlour that Lucy visited on her visit here in April. They were super friendly and welcomed us as walk-ins so that everything was taken care of on the spot. We are still waiting on the final healing stages but rest assured, I'll post pics when they're not all scabby and gross.

A very, very exciting development in the employment field has arisen for Timon in the form of an internship/volunteer based position as Staff Writer on a reviews website. You can visit digitalhippos.com and read his first game and music reviews. While the position is unpaid it is a fantastic opportunity to be published and to hone his writing skills. There are also perks like free games and invitation to industry events, premieres and concerts in his capacity as reviewer. Pretty rad stuff. High five Timon!

I have spent a few days with Sophie, exploring the Upper West Side, walking through Central Park when it was way too hot, drinking coffee at Jack's Front Street and getting stuck in the rain while eating Haagen Daaz. On Wednesday Timon and I arranged to meet her on the red steps at Times Square to try and hustle some rush tickets to a Broadway show. The queues were already mega by the time T & I dragged our butts out of bed but luck was on our side and we made it to the end of super-queue and bought $30 partial view tickets to "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Starring Daniel Radcliffe. HARRY POTTER!!!! Although I have serious and documented disdain for Daniel Radcliffe as HP I was pretty excited nonetheless. I am a pretty shameless celebrity stalker. We killed the early afternoon by having brunch at the Galaxy Diner, people watching in Bryant Park and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Our seats turned out to be ace (back row of the bottom level) and we only missed the top of the set. The show was fun, brainless and entertaining and John Laroquette was the standout for me. Sure Radcliffe danced impressively and sang in tune but Laroquette was hilarious, hamming it up and convincing the audience that he played it differently every show.

Smarmy bastard......

Sophie's arrival and a big announcement

On Friday Sophie Cole arrived in New York. Sophie is an IMAX alumni and is moving over to Philly for an acting gig. She also spent a few months in 2009 haunting the Upper West Side so she's back for a nostalgia trip (and to see as much theatre as possible in 10 days). Sophie came and met me at Greenacre for the tail end of my shift and in great anticipation of the evening's plans. The idea was to meet up with Scott, Sydney, Timon and Sophie's friend Kyle for an outside screening atop an out of commission battleship of.....Jurassic Park! I was pretty excited and could hear the soundtrack ringing in my ears all the way over to the west side (HERE for your listening pleasure - it gets good around 1.27. Or this one if you need a laugh). I closed up early and waited in the park for Kyle to arrive, watching with silent glee as some of the regular jerk customers we have stalked off in disgust when they saw we weren't open. We stopped off on the way to the Intrepid (Sea, Air and Space Museum) to get provisions - turkey, bread, cheese and drinks - for the film extravaganza before us. And then the heavens exploded. It's like they were too excited. We got caught beneath an overpass just before the museum in a torrential downpour of Noah proportions. With a sad face and sadder heart we discovered that the museum had cancelled the screening in anticipation of bad weather. There was nothing for it but to hail a cab (took 3 tries, bastard cab drivers!) and make our way back to the apartment for some commiseration drinks.

By the time Timon and Scott got home (they had taken the subway due to having Scott's bike to worry about) I was deep in conversation with my mum, all the way from Ballarat. Here comes the big news...............THEY'RE VISITING!!!!! From December 21st to January 7th Timon and I will be hosting the entire Mann family (4plusme) in New York City! So now everyone must keep their fingers and toes crossed for a white Christmas so they're not disappointed. The plan is to cram my sisters into our apartment again (sans deflated inflatable bed) and find a nearby hotel/sublet for my parents. I will be finished up with work by then so will be free to hang out and help negotiate the slippery sidewalks of Manhattan in winter.

Excited doesn't even begin to cover it.

Break in Transmission

While there's been a hefty break in blog-writing, I assure you there's been nothing to miss. Well a couple of things, maybe. I DID work everyday from the 11th to the 19th so those days were pretty dull. The new kittens have been a barrel of spew. While they are adorable and snuggly and precious something seems to be wrong on the inside. We've had vomit nearly every day since they arrived. And you can tell they feel bad - they've started to hide it behind the toilet, under the bed..... the one night I let them sleep on the bed I woke at 3am to the sound of heaving up near Timon's pillow. Callie was swiftly removed mid-hurl and I'm pretty sure only a drop landed on Timon's sleeping head.

I want to address those out there that think I'm a crazy cat lady. Yes I love cats. Undeniably. As much as some freaks out there love stinky, hairy, slobbery dogs. But what I love the most, and what at a stretch I would do for a puppy if cats didn't exist, is the chance to rescue an animal in need and lather it with love. Surprisingly the most rewarding (and heart-wrenching) part is taking them back to the shelter, ready to be adopted into their forever home. I have a lot of admiration for the women that run the shelter, who coordinate volunteers and spend their after-work hours wading through abandoned cats and non-committal window shoppers. Our contact Miriam is a full-time community lawyer - so big ups to her for caring.

ANYHOO - some other things we've been up to:

Sometime in the blur of 9 days straight Timon and I ventured out to Brooklyn in search of a film prop shop I read about in a magazine. We caught a strange train into a strange suburb (Gowanus ha!) and, after getting slightly lost, found a secure looking steel gate with a buzzer labeled Film Biz. We buzzed our way through and braved a maze of deserted corridors underneath a building to find a basement full of film junk. I was pretty disappointed because I expected significant, recognisable film and TV props that I could purchase on the cheap. It turned out to be nothing more than a smelly, over priced op shop with boxes and piles of miscellany with mysterious origins. I endured the heeby-jeebies for long enough and we trudged our way bacbk out of Gowanus and up to the mega-mall train station that is Atlantic Ave.

Our next stop was co-worker John's house in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. This involved some more walking but through a fairly affluent looking suburb with real Sesame Street-looking apartment buildings with bona fide stoops. We spent a few hours chillaxing at John's (gorgeous and spacious) apartment, investigated his potential new coffee shop site (half a block away) and then mosied further into Brooklyn to patronise an Indonesian restaurant run by an old woman who knows John's accountant (?). The food was delish (I had satay, damn satay is good) and we finished up discussing Turkish coffee techniques with a frenchman who used to be John's boss. Long story short - John knows everybody.

Somewhere in there I got some more library books, bought an old woman shopping trolley cart and completed my management duties with the minimum effort and interest.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

I'm going to start with a shout-out to Austin to congratulate him on his wedding. While I was roasting away in the Pennsylvania heat on Saturday 6th Austin was saying I-Do in Japan. I hope the day was free of stress and a big, fun celebration.

Back to me.

After sleeping for 5 hours, washing my hair twice and rubbing anti-itch cream over my bug bites Timon and I set off for the Bronx and a peaceful afternoon BBQ. It was hotter than the drizzly morning suggested and we made it there in a pile of sweat, only to be told we were heading straight back out to the Food Bazaar 10 blocks away. We walked and walked and took in the lesser seen Bronx sights and arrived at the biggest supermarket I've seen in the USA so far. There were towers of rice and juice bottles up to the warehouse ceiling. Pyramids of fruit and veg I've never seen before (and what looked like giant loofahs) were piled high. There were live fish swimming around in tanks and a bizarre selection of pinatas (including a snowman, donkey and mexican wrestler). We picked up the ingredients for guacamole and mojitos and tackled the massive queues, hindered only by a guy trying to spend way too much on lottery tickets and a woman playing multiple queues. We collected a 5L keg of Heineken and some briquettes for the barbie and slowly trekked back to Scott's. There was a street festival setting up on his block and as we walked past a guy was reading poetry to a small audience while a woman stood alongside him, signing every word for the hearing impaired.

In a swift act of teamwork we prepared Scott's awesome guac and were chugging back mojitos out of the most amazing Rowdy Roddy Piper and Sean Michaels wrestling Slurpee cups we found at 7/11. Scott expertly roasted the burgers and we ate double-decker mexican burgers with corn chips. The humidity proved too much for everyone and we spent the rest of the evening upstairs in the air conditioned VIP lounge watching films, Demetri Martin comedy and an episode of the new Wilfred. We did step out later when the music from the street festival became too enticing. We caught the tail end of the party and watched people from the audience get up and shake their tail feathers to some tribal drum beats.

Monday was spent sleeping in and going to work. It was not a nice feeling to be back in the confines of Jack's kiosk after 3 days away. It was quiet so I spent the evening telling Durell all the stories, eating Subway and reading my book. The apartment has been really quiet since last Wednesday when we took the kitten family back to the shelter. I know we discussed having a two week break (at least) to get our flat back to normal, without poo rocks kitty litter on the floor and stinky cat food bowls to trip over. But I missed them. And Timon missed them. So late Monday night we emailed our shelter contact Miriam and asked if we could foster another cat pronto. The only other thing we did Monday night was move the television into the bedroom. I've been resisting this move for weeks due to a) the small size of our bedroom and b) the extreme size of our television. But seeings as Timon has the next 3 days off and a brand new XBox it seemed cruel to force him to play in the sauna that is our lounge room. I expect us to be living in the bedroom exclusively for the next 6 weeks.

We awoke this morning (Tuesday) to find an email from Miriam asking us to foster 3 kittens that were abandoned with Petco. We could collect them asap so we did! We are now the happy foster parents to Leonard, Randall and Callie - three tiny, skin-and-bones tabby kittens - who's former owners threatened to "throw them out" if the shelter didn't take them in. They are all very affectionate and energetic, already cuddling with us on the bed. I think we should only have these guys for a couple of weeks but our house feels very lived in and loved up again.

Na-na na-na na-na na-naaaah Batman!

Well I'm not sure I would do it again.

We left home around 10pm and joined the queue for Megabus in some dark parking lot under a 7-storey banner for Captain America. The bus was chock-a-block and we found seats up the front. Sleep came surprisingly easy and we only woke to buy candy at the first rest stop. We arrived in Pittsburgh at 7am the next morning and found ourselves abandoned in the middle of a new city. Somehow I had acquired some particularly nasty insect bites on my ankle, arm and chest which were driving me nuts and Timon was struggling to get his knee working again after such a long, cramped evening. Nothing appeared to be open so we wandered down Penn Ave in search of coffee and breakfast. I was taken aback by how neat the city looked. It almost looked like a film set. The streets were wider than we're used to and the buildings had very square, clean facades. It was exciting to be out of New York, even more so when we realised that things were cheaper in the PA. We found ourselves at the entrance to a shopping arcade that boasted an open food court. We headed upstairs (not before passing a sign for a Toonseum, animation museum, that looked interesting) and found bacon, eggs, potato hash and biscuits for breakfast, accompanied by some very weak coffee. We killed time in the food court, reading local free newspapers and doing crosswords, until life was spotted in the streets outside.

We made our way along Liberty Ave and passed a group of miserable old people protesting outside a Planned Parenthood clinic. They had giant placards of dead babies and were trying to hand out pamphlets of hateful rhetoric. I've never seen protesters like this in the flesh and it made my blood BOIL. While I am staunchly pro-choice I have to remind myself that everyone has the right to their opinion and beliefs and some people don't share mine. I just find it so hard to stomach when those beliefs are imposed on others (but would I feel differently if the protesters were supporting my belief?). It's definitely a sticky subject that I wrestle with in my mind but ultimately I guess the whole thing just makes me sad. As do giant pictures of dead babies.

I called the hotel and asked if they could accommodate us checking in 5 hours early. They were obliging so we hailed a taxi and crossed the river. Our taxi driver was a gem and reminded me how refreshing it is to have a taxi driver who knows where he is going, is familiar with city landmarks and is not trying to screw you. He gave us unprompted suggestions on things to do and the directions to get there. And it cost $7. Brilliant. We checked in, turned on the telly and Timon napped for an hour while I watched a wedding show marathon. I woke him at noon and we braved the heat on a quest to ride the Monongahela Incline. These ancient cable cars are a form of public transport in the city and they carry you up the steepest of hills on a pulley system. The view is great but it was a little bit scary for the weak at heart (Timon). In an attempt to escape the sun we took some quick pics and went straight back down. We found a sad, half empty shopping centre that housed a Chinese restaurant, cigar shop, tourist crap shop and a decent looking pub/bar. We ate like kings, ordering a pile of appetisers and the first of many cheap drinks (mojito - $6.50). Back at the hotel we had a lazy dip in the pool/spa and then crashed, waking up at 10pm briefly before setting the alarm for 5.30am and going back to sleep.

We ordered a taxi in plenty of time the next morning but of course, it never came. We hitched a ride with the hotel shuttlebus driver and promptly got stuck in some crazy early Saturday morning traffic. It turned out that all the yellow school buses we were seeing were the Bat-Shuttles organised to take extras from the meeting place to the film set. I was pretty excited to ride on one as I'm sure it will be my one and only chance. We had all our paperwork ready when we arrived and we were quickly hustled through security checks and form signing to the inner field (at Heinz Field). We were given brown paper bags with a cookie, granola bar, sunscreen, water and a yellow handkerchief. We also snagged a free 5-hour energy shooter. Our first seats were right behind the goals on one end. Unfortunately we were seated in between 2 groups of obnoxious nerds who felt the need to comment on EVERYTHING and were often WRONG but thought they were right. Grrrrrrrr. Timon spotted director Christopher Nolan at the far end of the field, dressed smartly in a chinos, blue shirt and navy blazer. After running through the first scene of a young boy singing the national anthem we were moved to the left side of the field, into the seats we would have all day.

SPOILER ALERT ***

I had obeyed all the rules and left my camera at home in New York. However once we were not required to complete a confidentiality agreement of any kind I felt slightly validated in the sneaky pics I took with my phone. The quality is not great and it's hard to convey how cool the field looked - check out this guys blog for better photos. The far end of the football turf was raised and rocky like an explosion had lifted it and the goal post was twisted and bent to the ground. As we were given earplugs in our welcome kit there was no doubt that explosions would occur. It rained for the first half an hour of shooting and everyone huddled under umbrellas. We would huddle for the next 11 hours but under the sharp, penetrating glare of a 110degree sun. They filmed the national anthem scene a few times, getting crowd involvement shots as we all held our hand to our hearts and sang. Then the Gotham Rogues and Rapid City Monuments football teams came out and were filmed in their line-up. Some Pittsburgh Steelers players were amongst the Rogues although I have no idea who they were. The mayor of Pittsburgh was invited to be a part of the kick-off scene and his average football skills were booed by the crowd. The most exciting and interactive part for us was after lunch when we were instructed to react to an explosion on the field. As we screamed and tried to escape our seats armed mercenaries ran down the aisles, stopping everyone in their tracks. We were told to freeze and turn our attention to a spot on the field where 'a very bad man' would be speaking to us. BANE!!! They also previewed the explosion by setting up a small charge in the middle of the grass. Out came 3 Tumblers (new style batmobile/tanks) which drove around and thrilled the crowd. The big explosion of the day was 60 charges covered in pieces of turf which went off all at once. There were no flames bu the noise was thundering. I'm pretty excited to see the finished product, once the special effects team have had their way.

The most exciting part for me was when Tom Hardy, Bane himself came out onto the field and did his short scene. He spoke through a microphone stolen from a dead ref and his henchmen dragged out a large metal ball bomb looking thing. Tom came over to our side of the ground afterwards and thanked everyone for coming. Neither Timon or I won any of the hundred+ raffle prizes which was a little disappointing. We also didn't catch a free t-shirt that was flung into the crowd (but then again we didn't try). The crowd got pretty antsy and grouchy by the end of the day, screaming for free t-shirts and memorabilia. The sun was intense, the waiting was tedious and putting our winter coats on was torturous. Despite multiple layers of sunscreen I managed to get a burnt face and hands. The food was pretty heinous - a hot dog, salty pretzel and microwaved burger - but the water was plentiful and cold. They also handed out icypoles in the afternoon.

Half of the 10,000+ crowd left before the end of the day but it still took us an hour to get back on the shuttle buses and drive to Downtown. Timon and I searched for an open restaurant and found ourselves in a tiny jazz bar eating spectacular jambalaya and drinking wine. We had some time to kill before jumping on the bus home so we found that Toonseum and enjoyed some awesome framed cover art and comic panels as well as Walt Disney's original desk. We both slept uncomfortably on the bus and arrived back in Manhattan to grey clouds and drizzle. I showered the last 36 hours of sweaty grime off and slept for the next 5 hours.

I'm sure with a little time I will look back on this experience and realise it's awesomeness. The weather was truly brutal and I don't think anyone escaped the day without a degree of heat-stroke. There wasn't as much "action" as we would have liked but it was a real eye-opener in regards to the goings-on at a film set. It was sad not to see Batman but Bane was a nice consolation prize. I think there is a .00001 percent chance that you'll see us on the big screen but you'll always know (and we'll always remind you) that we were there.

"he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now"

This is a quick teaser for what promises to be a thrilling Sunday night blog entry. At 11.15pm tonight Timon and I are boarding a Megabus (not as exciting as it sounds) and driving 8 hours to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tomorrow we will disembark at 7am and investigate the city's attractions, killing time until we can check into our hotel at 3pm. I intend to take fully liberties with the hotel's heated swimming pool and spa. At 7.15am Saturday morning we will be shuttled, by BATBUS, from a parking lot in the city to the set of the film The Dark Knight Rises. There we will be seated amongst a crowd of other lucky extras as the action unfolds before our very eyes. There will be food and explosions and prizes and superstars and hotdogs and winter coats and confidentiality agreements so don't expect me to tell you anything. Keep your fingers crossed that one of us wins a prize (they include a car, round trip tickets across the US, TDKR film premiere tickets, Ipads and the like). We're back on the bus by 11pm Saturday and home 7am Sunday. It's going to be a whirlwind, but hopefully a whirlwind with Christian Bale at the centre.

Remember - he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A DARK KNIGHT.

Work wackiness

The next few days were fairly uneventful. There was a lot of work to be had and I neatly rounded off a 44 hour week with shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I spent my Saturday shift hunting for a hotel to accommodate our one-night-only fast-as-lightning trip to Pittsburgh and came up with nada. It seems that Pittsburgh has one measly hostel, a few pricey ones in the heart of town and some cheapo ones in the sticks. Nothing suited our budget or time constraints. I also am prone to falling into the trap of reading hotel reviews. You might not believe this if you knew me and knew the state of my bedroom/kitchen/bathroom but I am a bit of a stickler for cleanliness in hotels. There is nothing nastier than discovering an unsightly stain on bedsheets or a grimey shower especially when you've paid for the privilege. And frankly, you know it's not YOUR filth which makes it a million times worse. This paranoia can be dangerous when cruising user-rated reviews on hotel websites. It might be a five star luxury hotel but if I read one single bad review about room cleanliness or smell I cannot stay there. Unfortunately there is ALWAYS someone who had a bad experience (seriously, one time I read about a couple who found blood stains all over their bedding. Like intense, victim of garotting blood stains). You don't know who to believe and it becomes a salacious gossip spiral of horror.

On Sunday night (after I spent my shift watching Battle Los Angeles) we invited Scott and Sydney over to have one last kitten petting frenzy. It was becoming all to real that soon enough we would never see these kitties again. Sure they pee'd in Timon's shoes. Sure they vomited on the floorboards during the night so it had hours to soak in. Sure they left long lasting cat scratch scars all over my hands and feet. But dammit if I didn't love them. You've seen the wealth of photos on Facebook. Trust me when I say there are a thousand that didn't make the web. Timon worked until 8pm so I prepared a fancy dinner of homemade fried rice and takeaway chinese food. Scott and Syd brought the red wine but as soon as they rocked up the kittens became super shy and hid under the couch. I was disappointed for our guests but secretly thrilled because this indicated that the kittens weren't affectionate with everyone, just us, because we're special! It was crazy how the cats became super cuddly in that last week. It's like they knew their time was up and they were hoping for a reprieve...

Monday was the day I was proposed a promotion. The bosses upstairs asked me to cover the duties to be left behind by Scott, primarily rostering and ordering. Nothing too stressful. I laid out a few conditions of my own, including a reluctance to work full time hours, and word was to get back to me on the final decision. Word came back on Tuesday that 'we are a go'. I'm honestly not excited about this pseudo-promotion and my increased salary of $12 an hour fails to get the adrenalin pumping. But I have a soft spot in my heart for Greenacre and I feel the need to protect it until the end of the season. It has been the catalyst for the most exciting, rewarding experiences we've had in New York and brought together a very awesome bunch of people. For that I will defend the gates until the end of the season, warding off corporate bullshit and anyone who doesn't like margaritas.

Timon's Birthday Week Extravaganza Pt 2

Wednesday was spent recovering from the party and from a long week of work. We slept super late and did very little. There were thoughts of attending the Pier 70 open air screening of The Birds but ultimately we stayed in and watched Ugly Americans, True Blood and whatever other TV series we're in the middle of. On Thursday, Timon's actual birthday, we feasted on a birthday brunch of bacon and eggs and mosied down to the Lower East Side to meet Scott at Mole (pronounced Molay but my keyboard doesn't have that doover over the e). Having spent the afternoon meeting with the big boss Scott was eager to share that he had liberated himself from Jack's and served his two weeks notice. He also suggested that I take over in his place, but for now that story can wait. We greedily scoffed fish tacos, lamb tacos and endless margaritas under an ineffectual ceiling fan. It's amazing how much one can miss a protein - lamb is scarce in this country, at least in the restaurants we can afford, and just for a second I dreamt of my mum's roast lamb, sigh, yum. When we were absolutely fully loaded on tequila and corn chips we hustled our way to the East Side docks.

It should be noted that on this particular day we were subject to three completely brain-dead taxi drivers. It boggles the mind how, especially in this city of grids, taxi drivers plead ignorance of locations and drive you half way around the world in the quest for a bigger fare. So frustrating.

At the docks we joined a rather large group of potential ship mates. There were plenty of after-workers, dressed in neat professional attire standing beside a raft (ha!) of slutty pimped out folk. We waited and waited for our ship to be called and joined the line for this Lake Wendouree-looking double decker ferry. I should mention now that I purchased night cruise tickets on the East River for Timon and I on his birthday. We rejected the loud and neon-lit dance floor level for the outdoor seating with water view. Most people (and it turned out we got the after-work professional types) gathered together and ignored the water so we scored a secluded part of the deck and enjoyed magnificent views of the Statue of Liberty at night. The cruise was a 3 hour roundtrip and we were both more than ready to jump off at the end. The city lights were sparkling but the crowd was rowdy and drinks expensive. Another deluded cab-driver took us home and we crashed out, surrounded by kittens.