Blogs from New York, United States, North America - page 485

I left Newport News this morning on the Amtrak train to New York City, and along the way I read several chapters in "Lies My Teacher Told Me," by my Vermont homeboy James Loewen, which follows up quite nicely on a conversation I was having with my boss Mary. Yesterday she half rhetorically asked, "Why don't more Americans know about the terrible atrocities our goverment has done?" I replied, ''Education. Or a lack thereof." My homeboy James Loewen offered up a quote by Helen Keller that extrapolated upon the American tradition of willful ignorance. Helen Keller pointed out, "People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant." It is not pleasant to consider that, for instance, the United States has not promoted democracy in the Middle East. In ... read more

Ok, goed aangekomen. De vlucht verliep allemaal voorspoedig en soepeler dan ik had verwacht. En om 12:00 stond ik al buiten het vliegveld. Toen met de subway naar Manhattan. Hotel gezocht en gevonden. Toen ff wat te eten en drinken gehaald en Central Park in gelopen, waar ik vlakbij slaap. Redelijk vroeg gaan slapen vanwege de jetlag en toen vanmorgen had ik met floor en Michelle (waar hij slaapt) afgeproken. We hebben toen zo'n toeristische busrit gedaan. Af en toe uitgestapt om wat te eten of om naar het United Nations gebouw te gaan. Daarna naar de film geweest, Alien vs Predator en na afloop stiekem Open Water gekeken. Toen ff een burger gegeten en nu zitten we op Michelle's werk te internetten. Morgen maar 'ns kijken of ik 'n auto kan vinden en voor overmorgen ... read more

Saw a phish show in Saratoga state park. The park was beautiful. We had to walk through a golf course to get to the venue. The venue was pretty large with two levels of seats and a huge lawn. We had lawn tickets so finding a spot to hang out was difficult. We ended up relatively close and have a good view of the venue TV screen. Show was great with the end of the sets being there strong parts. Driving back home to Grand Rapids, Mi tonight.... read more

We journeyed onward in New York and ended up in the town of Troy. There was some sort of local festival going on downtown. They had all of the downtown streets closed down for the party. There were two stages with bands playing all day and lots of food vendors. We hung around for an hour or so and then moved further onward driving.... read more

We took the subway down to Coney Island today for the Phish show at Keyspan Park. Coney Island is one big carnival, complete with roller coasters, elephant ears, and “Shoot the Freak”. Coney Island had a nasty beach front and a cool pier that people were fishing from. The Phish show was spectactular and the venue was even cooler. I never thought that I would ever see Phish at a baseball stadium. The rain during the second set of the concert was overshadowed by the superior set list and the awesome energy of the crowd.... read more