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Back to gerritt.net OLD NEW YORK September 27, 2005. 10:35 PM A weekend in New York, and some more weird stories to tell. Daryl is always lots of fun, though it seems like everywhere we go we find ourselves in some odd situation. The oddest this weekend? How about mistakenly wandering through a gate guarded by the Hell's Angels and ending up backstage at a Korean Harvest Festival, where a Korean lounge singer was doing his best Frank Sinatra songs to a crowd of about ten people. The tough-looking guards in red berets only gave us trouble when we tried to leave the restricted area. Now picture all this happeneing in the shadow of the Unisphere, the world's largest globe, in the abandoned World's Fair grounds in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Very surreal. We also went kayaking on the Hudson, saw the strange and eerilly accurate 1200th-scale New York City Panorama, attended a huge benefit show for Hurricane Katrina victims sponsored by the New Yorker, and wound down by playing some 80s video games at Barcade. There's plenty more to tell, but it will have to wait. Now posted: all my pictures from September! -G * Email Gerritt VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL September 22, 2005. 5:35 PM Last weekend was the first Hokie home football game this season, and the boys in maroon showed up to play. For the second consecutive week Tech put 45 points on the board and, more importantly, forced their opponent into a shutout. There was even a fly-over by a B-2 Stealth Bomber right before kickoff (widely considered the most valuable aircraft ever built). I was lucky enough to score two tickets to the game, a free parking pass to a lot near the stadium, and a free hotel room Saturday night at the brand-new Virginia Tech Inn (thanks to my dad). The weekend was a great idea, and lots of fun. I am going away again this weekend, this time to New York City to see Daryl. Always lots of great pictures to take there. Will post again next week! -G * Email Gerritt HAIL VICTORY September 13, 2005. 9:35 PM Sunday I was lucky enough to be offered Otey's other season ticket to the Redskins game, so I joined him on an adventure to the very highest reaches of FedEx Field. It seems first-time season ticket holders don't get the best pick for seats, although that fence we were leaning against provided some much-needed shade on a warm day. A surprise appearance by Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey singing "God Bless America" began what little entertainment was to be found during a football game that resulted in only one touchdown. Unless of course you like enourmous American flags. Which I do. The home team won 9-7 with very little finess and only three field goals, while the Bears scored one TD right after halftime to make it seem close. It was a great afternoon to be outside, and good company, but I can't say I'm too excited about the rest of the Redskins season considering how they played this weekend. -G * Email Gerritt A WALK WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON September 8, 2005. 6:35 PM 
 
 
 -G * Email Gerritt PAPER OR PAPER? September 6, 2005. 7:35 PM This evening I went to the local Safeway (I walked, for obvious reasons), only to find lines stretching back into the aisles and grumpy looking patrons crowding around the severely undermanaged registers. Normal, I though, for the day after a holiday. Being in no real hurry, I went ahead with my shopping, only to find a weird situation at the registers: paper only. It seems the cashiers had run out of plasic bags and were forced to tap into the huge packs of emergency brown paper bags, thus slowing the inexperienced cashiers. I hadn't used a paper grocery bag in about ten years, and I now remember why: they're absurdly hard to carry, especially for blocks at a time. I managed to juggle the two bulky yet surprisingly durable sacks back to the boat, when it occured to me that this lack of plastic might be contributed to the recent hurricane. A small percentage of plastic bags are post-consumer recycled, but the majority of plastics come from- you guessed it- OIL. Now do you believe how petroleum-dependent our society really is? -G * Email Gerritt |
