A whirlwind weekend...

highpoints:
- sunshine (lots and lots of it!)
- soccer. we play on astroturf which is apparently carcinogenic, the homeless people apparently piss on it, and the 'blades' of the turf coat everything you're wearing. our fab new soccer ball (chrissy pressent from my bro) is now black instead of white. but we're not complaining, it's so good to be playing again, even though on 1/4 size fields.
- free stuff: free chocolates being given out yesterday (they go SO mental for 'valentines day' here, we heard yesterday morning that the average person was planning to spend US$105 each on valentines day. recession!?!?!); free samples at the very 'nice' (and far too expensive for us) foodmarket close to us; free onitsuka tiger sneakers in my size (white with blue and red detailing) on the side of the road (you can put anything out on the side of the road, except fridges unless the doors are removed);
- free entry to museums on friday nights - this week, the Guggenheim. Last week, MOMA. A few weeks back, the Whitney (though others having also discovered it means they are crowded!).
- The Queens Museum of Art - we went today for a fantastic survey of contemporary queens artists, and they have the most incredible massive 3d model of the 5 boroughs of NY, to scale, with every building represented (planes even fly in and out of La Guardia). it's in the centre of the museum and you walk around the outside. incredible. I could see my office building; we could nearly see our house! the QMA is on the site of the 1939 and 1964 New York World Fairs and some of the amazing structures they built then are still there...
- A really fantastic show of contemporary Indian and Pakistani art at the Phillips de Pury Gallery & Auction House.
- Clap your hands and say yeah at BAM (though the support act was somewhat muddled, discordant, immature and tryhard - ow we're harsh!)
- and to show life's not all fun and games that we wouldn't have back home, watching a few episodes of 'The Wire' which we totally missed previously.

lowpoints:
- works on the subway lines, meaning they don't run - but this hopefully becomes a highpoint in the future, when they run even better than usual...
- pain after soccer (ow!)
- not enough hours in the day

Anyway, since this blog has thus far been pictureless, here are a few snaps of NYC:

First up, prospect park lake, frozen solid in the first big freeze:

Prosepct park after the big snow dumping a week or so back:

Oh and look, more prospect park, in the snow. You might get the idea that we actually like the place...

Oh those dastardly squirrels move fast when you're trying to photograph them (believe it or not, this one is actually in central park):

Oh and this one has neither snow, nor ice, not animals (except there are squirrels in the huts.). No, this is not the latest in temporary housing for those former traders at Lehman Brothers, it's an art installation in Madison Square Park:

right, that's all for now

over and out...