It really is 'everywhere' in New York. It became a standing joke when we were there that every time we saw it, we would ask each other what it was. Funnier if you were there. Actually, probably not.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Statue of Liberty, viewed through the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges
Statue of Liberty, viewed through the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges, originally uploaded by tattie_chomper.
Not actually one of mine, but a Justyna special. She battled to the front of our boat to get a shot of the Statue of Liberty as we sailed back towards the bridges
Lost in a world of neon, Times Square
Gav and Justyna, pausing to gaze in wonder at the neon blitz in Times Square. I'll never look at Piccadilly Circus quite the same way again.
Man waiting to cross 5th Avenue
Probably my favourite photo of the whole trip, if I can work out how to use Photoshop to make the blacks a bit, well, blacker.
Walking down past the New York Public Library, en route to the Empire State Building, we had to take a right onto 5th Avenue. This is one of a set of about 30 photos of the Chrysler Building taken in the space of about 5 minutes as I attempted to get one I was happy with.
It was the last.
Mike's Art Gallery Clearance Sale
This is our host with the most, and one of my oldest and best friends, Gav, stood in the doorway of a souvenir shop near the Empire State Building.
I don't know why I like this photo - it just looks very American to me...
Manhattan by night
Flickr have introduced a handy posting mechanism so I can add photos to the blog direct from their website. So what the hell, here's a few more of my favourites from our trip.
This is the view north from the Empire State Building. In front is the GE Building, aka '30 Rock' or 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and behind, the big dark square is Central Park.
UN HQ & Pepsi sign, from the Empire State Building
In the space of a week, this photo, from our recent trip to New York, is about to become my most viewed on Flickr of all time.
That honour currently belongs to a pretty poor photo of Dominican college in Portstewart, taken in early 2006. But that's the weird thing. It's had 246 views in 5 years.... This one has had 178 in 5 days.
The most frustrating thing is that I can't even tell where people are clicking to it from, as Flickr can only class it as an 'unknown source'. It's something Pepsi related - close behind it in the rankings is the same sign, from the water, the following day.
Curious.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Cheeky Russians part 2
I've been getting a load of hits from 'unknown sources' on my Flickr account of late, which the forums suggest may be down to people directly linking to my photos from blogs.
At a loose end this evening, I decided to search for references to my photostream, and the first that popped up was this shot of Khovd that I took from our campsite in Mongolia:
At a loose end this evening, I decided to search for references to my photostream, and the first that popped up was this shot of Khovd that I took from our campsite in Mongolia:
Nice as it was to see that they appreciated what I thought was a pretty mundane shot of some goats (or at least, as mundane as views ever get in Mongolia), for the life of me I couldn't see where they had acknowledged it was one of mine.
Ah yes, there it is. I've circled it in red to highlight it, but you may still have to view the full size picture to see it.
TourNavigator.Ru - sailing close to the boundaries of cheeky behaviour....
Monday, April 18, 2011
back down to earth
Almost a week since our return from the Big Apple, and it seems like a lifetime ago. Amazing, exhausting, fascinating, colourful and hectic - it was everything we hoped it might be.
Gav & Imogen, our hosts with the, err, 'mosts', were absolutely stunners - they took us everywhere, showed us everything and made sure that no NYC experience was left undiscovered.
Took some great pics, ate some great food, discovered that not all American beer tastes like fizzy piss (take a bow, Brooklyn lager) and even managed to stumble my way across the finish line in the Scotland run round Central Park in an adequate (if 'personal worst') 57 mins. Given the amount of drinking, eating, smoking and walking that I'd subjected myself to in the previous week, that amounts to nothing short of a miracle.
Will whack some photos with assorted anecdotes on the internet once my additional RAM arrives from Crucial.com - my PC's 6 years old now and whilst still adequate for the majority of what life throws at it, it struggles when it comes to video editing or the new breed of photo software (where, by 'struggles', I mean 'crashes'). Am looking forward to souping up the old girl by doubling the memory and then sitting back as she 'does computing' at the speed of light... I can't fix cars, so will settle for having a rusty old Dell box with as much up-to-date kit inside it that I can manage.
Gav & Imogen, our hosts with the, err, 'mosts', were absolutely stunners - they took us everywhere, showed us everything and made sure that no NYC experience was left undiscovered.
Took some great pics, ate some great food, discovered that not all American beer tastes like fizzy piss (take a bow, Brooklyn lager) and even managed to stumble my way across the finish line in the Scotland run round Central Park in an adequate (if 'personal worst') 57 mins. Given the amount of drinking, eating, smoking and walking that I'd subjected myself to in the previous week, that amounts to nothing short of a miracle.
Will whack some photos with assorted anecdotes on the internet once my additional RAM arrives from Crucial.com - my PC's 6 years old now and whilst still adequate for the majority of what life throws at it, it struggles when it comes to video editing or the new breed of photo software (where, by 'struggles', I mean 'crashes'). Am looking forward to souping up the old girl by doubling the memory and then sitting back as she 'does computing' at the speed of light... I can't fix cars, so will settle for having a rusty old Dell box with as much up-to-date kit inside it that I can manage.
Monday, March 21, 2011
2 weeks until Enn Why See!
The countdown is on to our impending departure to the city that never sleeps... For once I'm almost not pissed off that work is so busy at the moment - the weeks are rocketing past and it seems like no time since we booked the tickets; as of 14 days from now, we should be somewhere over the North Atlantic about halfway through our flight.
I am, of course, relying on Old Father Time slamming the brakes on once the day of departure arrives, in order for our holiday to last as long as possible. If there's one thing I've learned in my time on this earth, it's how to make the good stuff last and the bad stuff whizz past in the blink of an eye. To be honest, if that were true, my life would have been getting progressively more shit since the age of about 16...
We've got a rough list of things we want to experience whilst we're out and I'm currently trawling the net trying to buy some sort of tourist pass that will get us discounted entry into the majority of attractions. London has it pretty sorted when it comes to free museum entry etc, but even here things like the London Eye are fecking extortionate. I'm determined we make every effort to ensure we don't have to skip anything just because it's "too expensive" - what a rubbish, if perfectly understandable, reason for missing out on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. We're normally quite good at being skint on holiday and making the best of it (walking up Mount Etna instead of taking the bus being a highlight), but if I can plan ahead then all the better.
The budget for the trip is also somewhat out the window as it's turned into a celebratory tour following my promotion the other day - the first since that announced on this very blog way back in late 2006. Admittedly I've moved to a different business in that time, but it was weighing a little on my mind that I was still stuck at the same grade, especially as I'd been 'stepping up' for months. Essentially, therefore, not much has changed except for the fact that I can now add the word 'Senior' to my job title, but it means that I'm no longer on the bottom rung of my current career ladder, which for a boy of 33 can only be a good thing.
I am, of course, relying on Old Father Time slamming the brakes on once the day of departure arrives, in order for our holiday to last as long as possible. If there's one thing I've learned in my time on this earth, it's how to make the good stuff last and the bad stuff whizz past in the blink of an eye. To be honest, if that were true, my life would have been getting progressively more shit since the age of about 16...
We've got a rough list of things we want to experience whilst we're out and I'm currently trawling the net trying to buy some sort of tourist pass that will get us discounted entry into the majority of attractions. London has it pretty sorted when it comes to free museum entry etc, but even here things like the London Eye are fecking extortionate. I'm determined we make every effort to ensure we don't have to skip anything just because it's "too expensive" - what a rubbish, if perfectly understandable, reason for missing out on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. We're normally quite good at being skint on holiday and making the best of it (walking up Mount Etna instead of taking the bus being a highlight), but if I can plan ahead then all the better.
The budget for the trip is also somewhat out the window as it's turned into a celebratory tour following my promotion the other day - the first since that announced on this very blog way back in late 2006. Admittedly I've moved to a different business in that time, but it was weighing a little on my mind that I was still stuck at the same grade, especially as I'd been 'stepping up' for months. Essentially, therefore, not much has changed except for the fact that I can now add the word 'Senior' to my job title, but it means that I'm no longer on the bottom rung of my current career ladder, which for a boy of 33 can only be a good thing.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Beware the sophisticated internet phishing scam....
There certainly are some out there.
But not this one. It's just lazy. Must try harder Miguel!
But not this one. It's just lazy. Must try harder Miguel!
Should be out training tonight
I'm not. I trawled my sorry arse back from work after 7.30pm for the second night running and, on top of having had a job interview on Tuesday following a heavy weekend north of the border for my friends Al & Susan's wedding, I'm shattered.
Not so shattered, however, that I can't raise this tab or can of Red Stripe to my lips, whilst mindlessly staring at a computer screen for what feels like the 85th hour this week.
Got four weeks til we jet off to New York; 5 until the actual run. More than enough time to go from a standing start to enough fitness to run over 6 miles.... right?
Meh, who cares. I'll be in New York!
Not so shattered, however, that I can't raise this tab or can of Red Stripe to my lips, whilst mindlessly staring at a computer screen for what feels like the 85th hour this week.
Got four weeks til we jet off to New York; 5 until the actual run. More than enough time to go from a standing start to enough fitness to run over 6 miles.... right?
Meh, who cares. I'll be in New York!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Rocketing down the rankings
Mindlessly perusing my blog's stats this evening, I came across the Wikio Sources website, which apparently has been analysing this, and a multitude of other blogs for the past few years.
It was somewhat disheartening to discover that I have plummeted from the heady heights of 6,545 in the "General" category rankings in October 2009, to my lowly position of 8,378 at the last count (as advertised by the pretty new widget in the top left of the blog).
Although with my recent average post count approaching 1 per month, and Wikio's "topic cloud" suggesting my main source of inspiration has been, err, 'Bulgaria', 'Lifestyle' and French car-derived vans, it's perhaps not that surprising.
 |
| http://www.wikio.co.uk/sources/see-that-tattie-run.blogspot.com-pXBF |
It was somewhat disheartening to discover that I have plummeted from the heady heights of 6,545 in the "General" category rankings in October 2009, to my lowly position of 8,378 at the last count (as advertised by the pretty new widget in the top left of the blog).
Although with my recent average post count approaching 1 per month, and Wikio's "topic cloud" suggesting my main source of inspiration has been, err, 'Bulgaria', 'Lifestyle' and French car-derived vans, it's perhaps not that surprising.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Cheeky Russians
I've had a compliment of sorts for one of the photos I took whilst in Kazakhstan last summer - Russian website turj.ru has robbed my copyrighted image from Flickr and claimed it as its own here:
My original photo is on Flickr, here:
They're the same feckin photo! Right down to the location of the crane in the top right, and the people walking along the pavement in the bottom left.
Anyone know how to rant about intellectual property in Russian?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Never so happy to be buzzed at 7am...
I was shocked out of an abnormally deep sleep at 7am this morning (well, 7.03 to be exact), by the flat buzzer going off... Momentarily confused by the fact I had slept through my alarm, which was blaring in the corner, and the lack of girlfriend next to me, who I'd not even noticed getting up, my mind cleared sufficiently to establish what was going on.
A whoop of delight from the front door a couple of seconds later confirmed the happy news - J's passport had returned, resplendent with a new red, white and blue insert stating that she now has clearance to travel to the US for the next 10 years!!
Although she sailed through the embassy interview last week, we're both pessimistic enough that we didn't want to start getting too excited before we saw the visa in black (or red & blue) and white. It was therefore with baited breath that we waited for our happy arrival this morning, and full Noo Yoik planning to begin in earnest.
Must admit, there have already been some preliminary notes made, after we allowed ourselves to buy a guidebook on Sunday and then sat in the pub, half-watching the rugby whilst planning the attractions we need to see. Pretty much one a page in the 350 page book. Suddenly a week doesn't seem like nearly long enough.
A whoop of delight from the front door a couple of seconds later confirmed the happy news - J's passport had returned, resplendent with a new red, white and blue insert stating that she now has clearance to travel to the US for the next 10 years!!
Although she sailed through the embassy interview last week, we're both pessimistic enough that we didn't want to start getting too excited before we saw the visa in black (or red & blue) and white. It was therefore with baited breath that we waited for our happy arrival this morning, and full Noo Yoik planning to begin in earnest.
Must admit, there have already been some preliminary notes made, after we allowed ourselves to buy a guidebook on Sunday and then sat in the pub, half-watching the rugby whilst planning the attractions we need to see. Pretty much one a page in the 350 page book. Suddenly a week doesn't seem like nearly long enough.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Back on the jogging trail
I returned to exercising ways for the first time in nearly a year yesterday, having taken a sabbatical following the Reading Half Marathon last March and, well, forgotten to start again.
Following that race, there was so much else to focus on with regard to the Charity Rally that I was happy to put my gutties back in the cupboard until further notice.
As with everything in life, however, I found it impossible to motivate myself to start getting back in shape without a carrot dangling on the end of the metaphorical stick - until now...
I'm doing another 10K. Not just any 10K, mind. This 10K:
http://www.nyrr.org/races/2009/r0411x00.asp
Yes, whilst over fulfilling one of my dreams in New York at the start of April, I have voluntarily agreed to give up the option of getting absolutely battered on my only Saturday night in town, and instead rise early on the Sunday morning for a race around Central Park. My mate Gav has done it the last couple of years and asked if I fancied it - the combination of such a stunning location and the chance to stop wheezing every time I climb some stairs proved too hard to resist.
I only have 6 weeks to get in a semblance of shape for it though, which even by my lackadaisical training standards is making me think I may not be particularly well prepared. At least I can blame it on jet lag, I guess.
Following that race, there was so much else to focus on with regard to the Charity Rally that I was happy to put my gutties back in the cupboard until further notice.
As with everything in life, however, I found it impossible to motivate myself to start getting back in shape without a carrot dangling on the end of the metaphorical stick - until now...
I'm doing another 10K. Not just any 10K, mind. This 10K:
http://www.nyrr.org/races/2009/r0411x00.asp
Yes, whilst over fulfilling one of my dreams in New York at the start of April, I have voluntarily agreed to give up the option of getting absolutely battered on my only Saturday night in town, and instead rise early on the Sunday morning for a race around Central Park. My mate Gav has done it the last couple of years and asked if I fancied it - the combination of such a stunning location and the chance to stop wheezing every time I climb some stairs proved too hard to resist.
I only have 6 weeks to get in a semblance of shape for it though, which even by my lackadaisical training standards is making me think I may not be particularly well prepared. At least I can blame it on jet lag, I guess.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Just call me Tattie Z
Ahh, fohgeddaboudit....
This is an exact representation of me in a couple of months - after 6 years of sort-of-planning to, and 30 years of dreaming about it, I have finally booked tickets to the City That Never Sleeps.
What is it about New York that unlocks all these feelings of excitement inside me? Years of being bombarded with tv, films, music and fashion from the coolest city on earth. I am 100% sure that everything about the place will live up to my expectations - I'll just have to see a Yellow Cab or the Statue of Liberty and I'll be off.
Justyna is, of course, going to be at my side as I stare manically around, a demented-but-friendly grin on my face. We got so stressed before her visa interview it was crazy; if either of us had been going for our dream job I wouldn't have been so on edge. But like the star she is, she apparently sailed right through the process and now we're waiting for the courier to arrive with that magical little piece of paper affixed to the inside of her passport.
Then all that remains is for me to get sorted with some Rocawear, buy the lady a sequinned jumpsuit and some piano lessons, and slip into that Empire State of Mind...
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Spam-tastic
The blog has been getting bombarded with spam of late, occasionally in Chinese, sometimes in Cyrillic, but always, always, laden with links enticing readers to pass over details of their worldly possessions.
The Blogger spam filter usually does an excellent job of quarantining them before they get a chance to appear on the relevant post (I only see them via an email link), but today, it went too far. Yes, the comment is by "anonymous". Yes, it appeared on a post I made back in November 2009, about nothing in particular. But there's no link to click. And I really can't understand why anyone would bother spamming it, unless they want to encourage as much self-referential droning as possible to clog up the internet.
I'm as narcissistic and in need of validation as the next person, and for this reason I have rescued it from spam box purgatory. You never know, much like Astrology (which only ever "makes sense" when it tells you your life is about to improve immeasurably) it might even be authentic. Except I'm still pretty sure astrology's a pile of crap.
"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "the most spontaneously arranged plans....":
What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace. "
The Blogger spam filter usually does an excellent job of quarantining them before they get a chance to appear on the relevant post (I only see them via an email link), but today, it went too far. Yes, the comment is by "anonymous". Yes, it appeared on a post I made back in November 2009, about nothing in particular. But there's no link to click. And I really can't understand why anyone would bother spamming it, unless they want to encourage as much self-referential droning as possible to clog up the internet.
I'm as narcissistic and in need of validation as the next person, and for this reason I have rescued it from spam box purgatory. You never know, much like Astrology (which only ever "makes sense" when it tells you your life is about to improve immeasurably) it might even be authentic. Except I'm still pretty sure astrology's a pile of crap.
"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "the most spontaneously arranged plans....":
What a great web log. I spend hours on the net reading blogs, about tons of various subjects. I have to first of all give praise to whoever created your theme and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an fabulous article. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only very few posses and honestly you got it. The combining of demonstrative and upper-class content is by all odds super rare with the astronomic amount of blogs on the cyberspace. "
Anonymous, I honestly could not have put it better myself. Except that with my clearly obvious abilities, I probably would have spelt possess correctly. I fully concur that the content of my blog is both demonstrative and upper-class - in fact you pretty much have summed up my vision for it. And as for the theme... Well, I'm afraid I must take all the credit for that too.
I'm available for consultancy work should anyone wish to get in touch via the usual channels (i.e. a comment on a post about what I had for my tea, from March 2008).
Sofia, so good.
I went, I saw, I survived. And that, my friends, counts as a result. The fact I managed to have a bloody nice time into the bargain just adds to the experience.
Yes, for the second time in my life, I joined that rite of passage as a man-child becomes a, err, committed man-child and flew to Sofia for my mate Al's stag do. Have to admit I quite looked forward to Bulgaria; it's not the kind of place people generally go, and after our experiences in the former eastern bloc during the summer I have a soft spot for former communist republics.
I was a little concerned about hijinks and tomfoolery - being a sensitive, self-conscious and largely puny soul -and all too aware that the locals may not take kindly to a crowd of pissed up Brits stumbling around their fair city being loud and obnoxious. I need not have worried - the debauchery was cranked up to "just right", and as it turns out my fellow staggers were as lovely a bunch of chaps as you could hope to meet.
The focal point of the weekend was a day's skiing in Borovets - I'm stunned and proud to announce that even with a gap of almost 18 years since my last foray onto the slopes, I remembered how to ski straight away. Like a penguin to snow. The fatigue in my legs kicked in pretty sharpish after lunch leaving me incapable of anything except gentle snow-ploughing, but I've got the bug back now. The rest of our time was spend boozing, in a controlled-ish manner, at a variety of pubs and bars in the city centre. I even managed to blag my way into the VIP section of a local nightclub and myself and fellow friend-of-stag Ryan are now immortalised in all our glory on clubbing website Disco.bg (pic 99)
Alas, it seems my dance moves themselves were deemed "too hot for the internet"
Yes, for the second time in my life, I joined that rite of passage as a man-child becomes a, err, committed man-child and flew to Sofia for my mate Al's stag do. Have to admit I quite looked forward to Bulgaria; it's not the kind of place people generally go, and after our experiences in the former eastern bloc during the summer I have a soft spot for former communist republics.
I was a little concerned about hijinks and tomfoolery - being a sensitive, self-conscious and largely puny soul -and all too aware that the locals may not take kindly to a crowd of pissed up Brits stumbling around their fair city being loud and obnoxious. I need not have worried - the debauchery was cranked up to "just right", and as it turns out my fellow staggers were as lovely a bunch of chaps as you could hope to meet.
Alas, it seems my dance moves themselves were deemed "too hot for the internet"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)