So we’ve had a bit of a debacle here in New York with our recent storm, as I am sure you have heard. Snow plows were nowhere to be seen, and the mountains that have built up at crosswalks are insane, with paths burrowed through them. I’ve never seen it this bad. Streets are really barely plowed. Like, major streets. At times there really is no way to get to the crosswalk, so people just walk in the street.
Yesterday, I somehow found myself on top of a veritable Everest of ice on the corner of 23rd and 7th, and realized I would need to somehow rappel myself down the ice floe. I wished for a toboggan.
You thought Manhattan was bad? Check out some of the pictures I took in my neighborhood of Brooklyn! http://mylife24fps.blogspot.com/2010/12/brooklyn-borough-that-bloomberg-forgot.html
Use makes master, they say. For we above the 49th Parallel, most of those pictures look like standard November through March (if lucky, possibly as long as May) street scenes, except for the amount of traffic. The main thing to remember is that the solstice is past and in three to six months it will all be melted– with the right attitude and a good hat, even -40 can be endured.
Pictures 2 and 8 are a little startling, I grant.
Ernst – do you think I’m a preschooler? I know snow melts. Are you kidding me?
No need to “grant” me anything. I didn’t post these pictures to be competitive. I posted because this is a personal website so I write about what’s going on with me at any given time.
To explain intent at length would likely compound the offense. I am authentically sorry, and I’ll not do it again.
Thank you very much. I’ll let it go now – the comment down at the bottom of this thread where I reference it again pre-dates your apology, just to be clear. I appreciate the apology, but don’t condescend to me like that again.
Kenji – wow! I have heard the crazy stories from Brooklyn and Queens – just insane!! Great pics, though!
The only thing I liked about snow like this in NYC was that it meant I didn’t have to move my car for weeks. No searching for parking! Of course the trains have service issues with this much snow too.
Thanks for the shots, hopefully by the time I come visit this weekend it will be a touch better. Isn’t there an article in the NY Post about how the slow snow removal has been part of some protest by the sanitation workers?
And, yeah, this same storm system dumped a ridiculous amount of snow on MN too. But, places that get this kind of snow annually are much better equipped to remove it fast – even when it means that the budget for snow removal this winter has now been spent.
Jen – The whole parking thing is nuts – I really don’t want to move my car, because finding ANOTHER spot will be too difficult – You know how it is: giant MOUNTAINS along the curb that you have to slide in between!
And when you shovel, there’s nowhere to PUT the snow – except into the street or onto the sidewalk.
Good luck flying in! It’s really not that cold here (so far) so that’s good – the sidewalks haven’t become coated in ice yet, which would make everything even more treacherous. Sidewalks are just slushy and a mess.
Sheila, don’t you hate it when you HAVE to use the car, go to all the effort of getting it out knowing full well that someone it going to steal your parking spot! At least they should give you a thank you note!
I brought my boots out east in preparation for NYC. DC got lucky so I haven’t needed them yet.
And many areas of the street flat-out are not plowed – so there aren’t spots to begin with. These crazy parking spots are COVETED, man. Thank You notes would be nice indeed. I’m seeing more plows out today.
Sheila, I’ve been cursing this blizzard stricken city all week and wondwering why I don’t live somewhere more temperate. I saw two heavyseat guys standing on a corner in Tribeca contemplating one of those huge slush puddles. Then one guy said “c’mon Bruce Lee jump over that thing”. I was thinking I’ve made the short commute from NJ through heat waves, floods, black outs, blizzards and terror attacks. I was living in the city when the Rodney King cops were acquitted in L.A. and watched the city empty out amid rumors of race riots and wild gangs crossing the Brooklyn Bridge wielding baseball bats. Last night I was with the hordes in midtown barely being able to walk down the street. But then at 8:00 I found myself in the 3rd row center at the American Airlines Theater fot the Roundabouts latest Oscar Wilde revival. It was then I remembered why I live here.
sheila — That is NUTS. I’m glad you’re okay, though.
Ah, The Self-Importance of Being Ernst.
Tracey – NICE!!
Now, let’s gossip about that annoying comment. This is Ernst’s second comment that makes me think that he somehow believes I am like Jodie Foster from Nell, a naif with zero experience of the real world, just coming out from her forest hut, blinking wide eyed in amazement at the world and wondering how it all works. Is there ANYthing I have written on my site that would make you think that was who I was? His other comment pontificated me on the common-ness of names with apostrophes, and how I “shouldn’t mind” it because so many people have them. (This was in a post I had written about how frustrated I was that places like airlines and banks, etc., have a problem dealing with my apostrophe). My last name is O’Malley. There is NOTHING you could tell me about what it’s like to have an apostrophe in your last name that I do not already know – because I have lived it – why do you assume it’s never occurred to me before? Like Seriously: do I write like I’m holding a crayon in my fist? Do I write like I can’t see above my play-skool table? I think I come off as pretty intelligent. I certainly do not need anyone to explain to me what it is like to live with a last name that has an apostrophe in it or that the snow will melt in the spring.
Basically: I AM NOT NELL.
No, you’re Sheila, and you always come off as beautifully intelligent.
(Though, to be fair, the prevert in me can’t wait to ask the Russian-born people in the office how this storm compares to the ones they grew up witnessing. Alas, I’ll have to put that off until next year.)
I will see your toboggan and raise you William Carlos Williams’s Red Wheelbarrow, because
“so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.”
And it was extremely white on Sunday night and Monday and I did feel like a chicken as I made my way to and fro. I was out on Sunday catching Westerns at Lincoln Center, and some part of me must have gotten confused with the actors on screen, because I was one of only three people who made it to the office on Monday — and only one of two who stayed for a full day. Sign me up for the Mandan, Uncle Zeb, I’m ready for the Big Sky Country!
By the by, given your writing on Howard Hawks and actresses, I’d be interested in reading your reaction to Elizabeth Threatt’s Teal Eye in Hawks’s “Big Sky” one of these days.
dg – The hordes around Port Authority are terrible – especially on the 42nd Street side where, unbelievably, the streets really haven’t been plowed properly so there are those mountains in between the curb and where the buses pull up. Insane!!
Hey, I’m dying to see that Oscar Wilde – I think that was the production I read about in England last year – how was it??
Charles – I remember one big storm we had about 6 or 7 years ago – and seeing people cross-country skiing down Broadway. it was so awesome! Strangely enough, not sure if you felt this way – but TUESDAY was worse here than Monday, due to the plow conditions. You are hearty indeed to have gone out on Monday!
And of course, our measly snowfall would not compare to Moscow! Or the cold – the weather has actually been rather mild, strangely – lots of icicles melting. Having lived in Chicago, I know bitter frigid cold – it’s rarely that cold here.
I need to do a whole Hawks-month. It’s been years since I’ve seen Big Sky. I need to pick up my Chronological Jack Nicholson project too. Ugh – not enough time!!
I am HOWLING at your comment, sheila! Tears streaming.
/Basically: I AM NOT NELL./
“Gah-inja chickabee. Gah-inja.”
You know, I can feel my New Year’s crankypants gettin’ real tight. I SO thought I would be different this year. It’s looking bleak.
/do I write like I’m holding a crayon in my fist? Do I write like I can’t see above my play-skool table?/
Hahahahahahahaha! What are you doing to me???
Now I want some posts written as if you WERE Nell.
Chicka, chicka, chickabee. / T’ee an me an t’ee an me. / Ressa, ressa, ressa me, / Chicka, chicka, chickabee.
Hey, I’m just quoting from IMDb here. The Quotes page for that movie is pretty funny since Nell is such a freak.
Take THAT, Ernst.
chicka chacka bee innnnffffff chakahhhhhhhh
Also – that that’s a quote from IMDB??? Ha!
I, too, have been forced to become a streetwalker on the mountain where I live, and there’s nothing stranger than a bald, bearded 66 year old streetwalker.
Doc – hahahaha Be careful!!! Those streets are brutal! But sometimes you just have to walk in the street. You are forced to!
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Sheila, hah-I thought your friend Tracey was commenting on the play I saw last night but ironically she was commenting simultaneously about the irksome Mr. Bitterman. Anyway yes the show was wonderful and Mr. Bedford was very funny as Lady Bracknell. Some of the actors have changed since the review in the Times you referenced-with Dana Ivey now playing the role of Ms. Prism. It would be tough not to enjoy the show, I mean the dialogue is the dialogue and the wit is the wit. The sets were pleasingly simple and the rest of the cast very professional. Can we do ANYTHING about the coughers in the audience? Bothers me to no end.
dg – Oh man, I am dying to see it, especially Bedford. I love his picture on the poster.
It’s right next door to the doomed Spider Man. CLOSE THAT SHOW before someone freakin’ DIES!!!
Wait, is his last name really Bitterman?! Like, Bitter Man? Can’t be.
I will play some Devil’s Advocate and suggest that he was merely saying us New Yorkers should stay positive and realize this is only a temporary crisis; this too shall pass. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean that you needed to be told that snow melts. And Nell was pretty hot.
I will say that these are the biggest snow drifts in Manhatten that I can remember, and the response in the outer boroughs has been dreadful. I think the main problem was the timing; many sanitation and cleanup people are out of town, and can’t easily get back in themselves. Airlines into town are still a mess. I have a friend whose wife and two daughters had their flight into New York cancelled on Wednesday, and they couldn’t book another until Saturday. Where is Rory when you need him?
On an unrelated not, I sent the following on Jeff Bridges to the Gibsongirl address, but I wasn’t sure if you got it. I figured you’d appreciate it since you seem to be as big a fan as I am. Great list, but for me I need to see Cutter’s Way or Jagged Edge on here somewhere. They give high praise to Fearless, which I know you love as much as I do.
This guy is truly amazing. For my money, the best living actor, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/10-greatest-roles-of-jeff-bridges-20101217?hpt=Sbin
Have a Happy New Year, Sheila!
Todd – hahahaha Rory! Seriously: where is Rory? He’d make it all better! I have been hearing horror stories about the people out at airports. People have been out there for 3 days!
One last thing, in my own defense, and then we’ll be done with it: My response to Bitter Man is colored by his condescending remarks in the past where he informed me of the obvious – as though I needed to be schooled about something totally rudimentary. It’s a sexist dynamic that I recognize. I am sure on some level it was innocent, and I feel his apology was sincere, totally – so I’ve let it go, but I needed to issue a warning to him. It was already a PATTERN. He is not a regular commenter. He only comments in that particular tone, as though I am a silly little thing who needs to be educated – he doesn’t comment otherwise – and THAT’S what I find annoying. I remember everyone who comments here. I’m crazy that way.
Now! Onto better things. As I said to him in response to his apology – I’m fine, I accept his apology – so let’s move on.
Todd, I did get your link – but I haven’t had time to read it, that’s how insane it is right now! Cutter’s Way is amazing – it really shows how Bridges was able to tap into something really dark, at a very young age – Know what I mean? That’s a riveting performance. It definitely should be better known. I promise to read that link – maybe this weekend!
I agree with you – he is the greatest living actor.
Todd – I do appreciate your devil’s advocate stance, by the way. I think you’re right – he really didn’t mean it that way – but it’s the cumulation of condescension I was responding to. However: in this moment, you are right, and I thank you. :)
Happy new year to you, too!
Those were like, just my opinions, man.
But thanks. And the Rory story is vintage Red. (Had to try that, sorry). Loved it.
The Bridges article is short, really just the list with a brief comment on each film. What’s great is the thread that follows, as bloggers show true rage in their anger over some oversights the author makes regarding polt points, etc. Some of the errors by the author are actually pretty egregious, but the passion among Bridges fans is palpable and striking.
I love it when people call me “red”. Go for it!
I do appreciate your opinion. Bitter Man rubbed me the wrong way, so I thought I’d try to nip it in the bud. I am not always graceful with such things, but I see the internet as the wild west at times. I gotta stake out my territory. But still: I hear what you’re saying.
I can’t wait to read the piece! If I had to choose 10 best roles? God. Like I said in my piece I wrote about him at HND, – I think that “hyperbole” is too overstated for this guy’s talent. “Best”? Are you kidding me? When has he ever been bad, is really the question.
Can you think of a performance that somehow was “off” or “bad” in his entire body of work? I can’t. There are movies I don’t particularly care for – but I never feel him reaching, or over-reaching. Have you?
I personally love it when he plays dumb. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot – Cutter’s Way (to some degree) – guys who are honest, and open – but not all that bright. He’s very very good at playing that, I think. Maybe not so much now, since he’s weatherbeaten and older – but as a young soft-looking man, I think “dumb” was a really smart choice for him, a really smart way for him to go. he didn’t try to be cool or sexy – he went in the opposite direction. SMART.
I just went through his filmography again to try to answer your questions, and discover that I can’t. And I was reminded again of some great roles that haven’t been in my consciousness for a while, like Against all Odds, and his wonderful turn
in the otherwise so-so The Muse. Even in mediocre fare such as that, and the Vanishing remake (don’t EVEN get me started on that one), he rises above.
I haven’t seen everything. In fact, the only movies I’ve seen pre- Cutter’s Way (1981) are The Last Picture Show and King Kong. There are 8 or 9 titles I need to get to (Fat City, Bad Company, Heaven’s Gate, Stay Hungry, Winter Kills- I’d love some advice).
But in the 45 or so titles since, I’ve seen most of them, and no, he’s never off.
And I know what you’re saying about him “playing dumb”, but to me, it’s really about him playing the role as required. Jagged Edge was four years after Cutter’s Way, and that title could describe his performance. The Contender also shows he can disapear into smart just as easily. But you’re right, when he’s in over his head (Cutter’s Way, Morning After, Against All Odds), he’s riveting.
My greatest fear is to be trapped. Reading about New Yorkers stuck in the subway and on runways gave me nightmares.
I live in Seattle and when it snows we all run in to each other and I get stuck at work sleeping in a stinky on-call doctor’s room.
I hope you dig out soon.
Oh..and Happy New Year. Reading your writing is one of my happy places.
Debra T.
Todd – “in over his head”. Yes, that’s the perfect way to put it.
I forgot about The Muse! I also love him in The Contender. So many people mention Fat City and I haven’t seen it either – it seems rather difficult to find.
That whole Vanishing remake was upsetting to me – the original was so frightening that I remember actually having to be HELD by my boyfriend after the movie finished. We saw it at a little art house in Philadelphia, and it took me a couple of days to shake the effect of that film off. The Hollywood-ization of that brutal story was particularly egregious – how could they???, I asked myself – but I still thought he was terrific in it. Not a piece of casting that makes sense on the face of it, but when he makes his face go blunt and reactive – Bridges can be quite scary. Quite “other”. He used it beautifully and in a benign way in Starman (God, I love that movie) – but he can also turn it into something very sociopathic. He’s just so good.
Yes, he was very good in the remake of The Vanishing, but I’m with you–the way they changed the ending was really unforgivable. It sort of goes to the conversation about the new True Grit, where the ending didn’t wrap it all up with a nice, pretty bow. The remake of The Vanishing started to show what actually happened in the original, but, then–“Don’t worry. We’ll make it all better. You don’t have to go home, and think about it too much.” I hate that. BTW–I didn’t think Bridges was good at all in Coppola’s Dracula….oh, wait—that was Keanu Reeves.
DBW – right, it became a thriller with a big flashy finish when in reality it is a dark nihilistic story with zero escape. The whole thing is inevitable from the moment it starts.
I meant to comment on your other observations about True Grit – really busy over here right now – but I loved your additional thoughts.
Don’t worry about it. This is a busy time of year, and it must be frustrating when I continue to comment on “old” posts. At this point, I’m not keeping up with anything–just trying to finish the year, get things completed, and start fresh next week.
It’s not frustrating at all! What’s frustrating is I can’t respond to everything I want to respond to! But hey, I’m actually making a living now as a writer – squeaking by, as they say, but it is busy busy busy.
Are you doing anything fun tonight?
Well, whatever I do, it has to be better than last year. I got so drunk at a party, that I didn’t get out of bed until 8:30 PM! the next day. Unfortunately, we had a party for people to watch a football game that night, and here I was up in bed. Some people never learn. I hadn’t had that happen to me in quite a while. We are going to the same party tonight as the one last year. I told my wife that I was going to put a “Chastity Belt” on my wine glass this year. Rob, the host, is infamous for filling up your glass when you aren’t looking. It finally dawned on me last year that I had been drinking the same glass of wine for about 3 hours. No kidding–I drank more than 2 bottles of wine by myself. Ouch.
And, BTW, I’m glad about the paying gig. That’s great. I hope you have a great 2011. You deserve it.
I have four paying gigs now! What country, friends, is this??
Happy new year to you too.
Four? That’s even better. Go forth and conquer, Red!
Only four jobs, Mon? At Hey Mon airlines, you’d be an outcast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpu5_3qk4KM
hahahahahaahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa
Wow….and I wonder what happened to all our snow. Well, now I know. You got it (lol).