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Archive for the ‘New York Speaks’ Category

Who Do You See in Central Park?

Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, tagged black squirrel, cardinal, Central Park, Murray Head, turtle, woodpecker on March 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

You just never know who you’re going to run into when you walk through Central Park. On this day, there was a colorful assortment of feathered and furry friends. The camera caught a few of them in going about their daily tasks. Mmmm do they actually have chores?

Love that Grackle on the Left

“Who goes there”?

Ole!

A Black Squirrel making off with a peanut!

Not A Happy Duck

Is Big Bird Lost?

Going Eye to Eye With A Red Tail Hawk

A Tufted Titmouse

Red Bellied Woodpecker Actually has a Red Head

“Am I Having Fun Yet”?

“Coming ashore”

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

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The Common Grackle – Uncommonly Colorful

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, New York Speaks, tagged Bird, bird feeder, Cowbird, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Murray Head, Red-winged Blackbird, Tit (bird) on March 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I love to watch birds hopping on and off my feeder in the backyard. I also love the sound of their manic early morning chirping as dawn breaks and they descend upon the feeder for breakfast. Mostly we get Sparrows and Chickadees, Morning Doves, sometimes a pair of Cardinals. I have a couple of Blue Jays who periodically visit, not to eat from the feeder but rather to steal some of the peanuts left out on the table for the squirrels. The jays do not have a pleasant voice at all but they are beautiful to look out and bold enough to land on the table or porch rail even though we are present. Soon, as Spring overcomes winter, there will come a day when all of sudden I hear a lilting song and I know that the Red-Winged Blackbird has arrived!

Over the years we’ve been visited by Grossbeaks, Woodpeckers, Yellow Finches, House Finches, Cowbirds, Starlings, Robins as well as Blackbirds, and of course pigeons (those I chase away). AND we get Grackles, those iridescent beauties. They are part of the Starling family and by many, not considered to be an exciting siting.

I disagree! Their luminous feathers literally reflect sunlight, they gleam in the sunshine and as they move around (they are ground feeders) their colors shimmer as their shading goes from blue to purple to green.

Sapphire Blue

Purple Wings

Touches of Teal Blue

Aquamarine Throat

Nature’s Gradient Colors

All photos courtesy Murray Head

Blackbird (watchingitallunfold.wordpress.com)
Seeing Red (howtospyonbirds.wordpress.com)
Day 2 of The Great Backyard Bird Count (grndmachrisshutter.wordpress.com)

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Life After New York City?

Posted in BY THE WAY, New York Speaks, Only in New York, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Annie, Empire State Building, Florida, Mary Poppins, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York City, Radio City Music Hall on March 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

When my daughter and her husband moved to Florida at the beginning of this year, I was devastated. Well actually I still am because I miss my little Finny so much. I enjoyed having them nearby even though I didn’t see all that much of them, they were still close , and often I would pick Finley up from school or take her there.

My husband and I took her to the Metropolitan Museum and were looking forward to immersing this bright little girl into the culture that’s so readily available in The City. Alas, she’s gone to Florida and is now taking tennis lessons and learning Spanish. She was just getting to the age where the adventures were about to begin. Finley is intelligent and curious and very observant so any little outing with her was exciting.

Her parents certainly exposed her to the theater while in NYC and took her to the many child-centered events held in Manhattan. She went to see Mary Poppins, Annie and shows like Pinkalicious and some show where the performer created monster bubbles. There were more too. We went to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show together every year since she was two! I even made her a hat to wear in the Easter Parade! Her other grandparents took her to the Empire State building and other wonderful sites in the City.

I knew that if we went to the Village she would find it fascinating or Chinatown….so many places, so much to see and now she’s gone. I’m hoping we can bring her to New York for a week sometime soon and keep the City alive for her and not have it become a distant childhood memory.

And where is all this leading up to? Well actually I didn’t sit down to write a lament about how much I miss Finley Ray, it sort of just came out on the keys. Chiara, my daughter, sent me a photo yesterday and it prompted me to want to muse about life after New York City – See for yourself!!!

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Hail To The Blue Heron

Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Biology, Blue Heron, Chordata, Flora and Fauna, Great Blue Heron, Heron, Mallard, Wood Duck on February 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Central Park is so full of life! Over the past couple of years, I’ve posted photos of the park’s four-footed and feathered denizens. You’ve seen the spectacularly colorful Wood Ducks, the entertaining squirrels, the royal red Cardinals, the fierce-looking Red Tail Hawks, flocks of Mallard Ducks, frolicking dogs, and shy raccoons. Today, it’s all about the Blue Heron. Strung together, these pictures seem to tell the story of the Heron who went out for a walk and realized too late that it had snowed. His feet were cold so he tried standing on one leg and then the other. He looked very uncomfortable. Finally he thought it better to just leave.

“Well, I certainly didn’t expect this”

“Maybe I should go back”

“Ooh that’s cold”!

“Extremely unpleasant”

“I’m Outta Here”

“Now where should i go”?

“C’iao for now”

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

Hungry heron decides to gopher a bite (metro.co.uk)
Heron on a bad hair day (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
The Blue Heron’s Flight (musingbymoonlight.com)

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GRAND CENTRAL 100 Years GRAND!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged Beaux-Arts, Beaux-Arts architecture, Campbell Apartment, Grand Central Terminal, John W. Campbell, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, Oyster Bar on February 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Completed in 1913, the awe-inspiring Beaux-Arts landmark became the country’s busiest train station serving commuter and long distance rail lines and bringing development to midtown Manhattan.

I love to go to Grand Central Terminal. It is so magnificent with its massive marble floors, soaring ceilings, marble columns. The ceiling which was restored a few years ago is a heavenly vision of the Zodiac. There is an astronomical mural depicting the Mediterranean sky during the period between October and March. There are 2500 stars in the ceiling. In the center of the main Concourse there is an information booth and a beautiful round 4-sided clock. “Meet me at the clock” – an iconic meeting place for decades and has been featured in many films.

GCT is home to many secrets! Did you know that in the middle of the Main Concourse there is a marble column that holds a hidden spirlal staircase to the lower level?

The Campbell Apartment, a popular bar, is tucked away out of sight. Formerly the private office and salon of 1920’s tycoon, John W. Campbell; The Campbell Apartment has been fully restored to its original splendor — and reborn as a chic cocktail lounge that has already been cited in the national media as one of “the best bars in America”

The famous Oyster Bar and Restaurant are located on a lower level and obviously that’s not a secret. BUT outside of the restaurant there are four columns positioned in a sort of square. The secret is; If you stand in one corner facing the column and your friend goes to the opposite diagonal corner and you whisper a few words or sentence (and I mean whisper), your friend will clearly hear what you have said. YES it is amazing but it is true.

“I’m late, I’m late…”

Photo courtesy of Murray Head

New York’s Grand Central Terminal turns 100 (telegraph.co.uk)
Memorable moments in Grand Central’s 100 years (cnn.com)

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CENTRAL PARK – Look Who Hangs Out There!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged Ashkenazi, Ethnicity, Israel, Jewish, Jews, List of English words of Yiddish origin, Yiddish, Yiddish language on January 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes I get a bunch of photos from Murray and Fab Foto Friday just doesn’t give me enough space to put a lot up. So today because I also have an ulterior motive, I’m going to post some of the photos of the Who and What hang out in the park. Oh so you want to know the ulterior motive? Well the last few days and all the rest of this week is filled to the top with what is known in Yiddish as tsuris.

There are ISSUES and more ISSUES with work, with the adult kids, with health, with timing, with trying to be in two places at once and God how I wish I had the power of bi-location! Anyway, all that stuff is really personal and since I don’t want to put that stuff up on the blog because that I will have to bite my tongue a lot more than in chic!

Blue Jay On A Dead Tree

Wood Duck Hanging Out in the Pond

Who Knows?

Two Dogs Frolicking

Do Pigeons Really Kiss?

2 Shades of Gray-Look Closely

A Cat in a Collar

Look At That Snout!

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

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BIRDS of a Different Feather – All Together in the Park

Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, Only in New York, tagged Bird, cardinal red, Central Park, centralpark, City, Feather, female cardinal, mallard ducks, Murray Head, New York, Park, Recreation, Red Tail Hawk, Slate Junco, Tufted Titmouse, United States on December 1, 2012| 1 Comment »

Today is the last day of my photo week, however not the end of my photo posts! It’s just been a great week for me as Murray has been sending me shots every other day or so. So even though I did feature a magnificent owl yesterday, today is devoted to birds of a different feather altogether. Nice play on words don’tcha think?

A Young Red Tail Hawk

A Slate Junco Sitting Pretty

Mallard Triplets

Cardinal Triplets

Hey how did you get in the picture?

Blue Jays Are Known Thieves!

He’s Really A Beauty!

SHE

All photos by Murray Head

Some people think New York is an ugly city, dirty and without beauty. They are SO wrong- There’s so much beauty in The City, it’s all around us. Central Park alone is replete with beautiful flowers and wildlife; The birds are wonderful, the ponds full of turtles, frogs and visited by egrets and herons alike. If outside art is not your thing, we have amazing museums and art galleries filled with every genre and period of art and sculpture. AND of course not to brag too much, MANY of the most famous artists original work hangs here.

Backyard Birding (wavikz.wordpress.com)
Time-Lapse of Central Park in NYC Shows the Seasons Changing Over 6 Months (petapixel.com)

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WHOooooo Loves You?

Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Central Park, New York City, oak leaves, owls, Photograph on December 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Not that the title of this post bears too much meaning for the following photos but I did think it was kinda cute. Murray has been haunting the parks in the City this week so I have been blessed with a whole bunch of great photos to pick from for my week of photos!

Previously in my Yellow Is The Color Of My True Love’s …blog post, I did feature a photo of an owl in tree laden with yellow leaves. But today it’s all about the owl! Being quite the poseur, he showed up two days in a row!

“I’m keeping my eye on you”

“Why don’t you mind your own business”?

“NO, I don’t like having my picture taken”!

“I’m not sleeping, just resting my eyes”.

“I only need one eye open to see what’s going on”!

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

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Top Ten Things To Do In New York City During Christmastime UPDATED!

Posted in New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged Baccarat crystal, BAM, Barney's, Bergdorf Goodman's, Bloomingdale, Cartier, Christmas, Christmas fairs, Christmastime, frozen hot chocolate, GCT, Grand Central Terminal, Holiday train show, ice skaters, Ingo Maurer, Macy's, New York, New York City, Rockefeller Center, Rockefeller ice rink, ROCKETTES, Saks Fifth Avenue, Santa, Serendipity's, Sunday, the Tree, Unicef snowflake, Union Square on November 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As the holiday season in New York City revs up to full speed, the most popular post in my blog has been Top Ten Things To Do In New York City During Christmastime– see previous post: Top Ten Things To Do in New York City during Christmastime. I’ve been looking around and researching what’s happening around town to see if I have missed anything and don’t you know I did discover something!

Turns out that the Citicorp building in midtown is no longer the home to a fantastic adult and child-pleasing train display. Very disappointing because this Sunday I planned to take Finley to see this wonderful exhibit. I’m not sure if and where it has moved.

Here’s my 2012 list of suggestions on ways to celebrate the season in New York City.

New York City’s own LITE-BRITE Tree

THE TREE – STILL the number one tourist attraction this time of year and an event televised nationally – The lighting of the Christmas tree in ROCKEFELLER CENTER a spectacle to behold and free. Each year I marvel at this monstrous beauty and each year it looks better than the year before. Walk around the Center, see the ice skaters, better yet, why not rent a pair and join in the fun!
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL: Millions of people have passed through this temple of transportation, so many trips begin and end here! Walk though this architectural landmark; View the heavenly ceiling with its golden astrological symbols. Visit the Transit Museum and Gift Shop (even if you are “only looking”). There’s always several vintage train sets on display. The Christmas Fair booths in Vanderbilt Hall are great for unusual and unique gifts and there are many retail outlets throughout the Terminal. If you arrive after 3pm and are sans kids, you might want to have a late afternoon or evening cocktail at The Campbell Apartment. It has been restored to its original splendor when it was the private office and salon of the 1920’s tycoon John W. Campbell.
THE NUTCRACKER BALLET – You can catch a performance of THE NUTCRACKER at BAM- BROOKLYN ART MUSEUM performed by The American Ballet Company. Very easy to get there by subway or bus. This year’s show is dazzling and entertaining. Suitable for children ages 4 yrs and up. It’s a holiday classic.
RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SHOW – But nothing is more classic than going to RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL and seeing the ROCKETTES perform in the annual RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SHOW. I have been going since I was little; My grandmother used to take me and as a young girl, I was overwhelmed by the size of the Music Hall and the sweeping grand staircase. The show is magical, the Rockettes are truly spectacular. My favorite routine is the Wooden Soldiers. And you can never get tired of watching in awe how those legs just keep high-kicking! Children love the show, there are two recent pieces done in 3-D and Santa is the host throughout the show.
And down they go one by one
WALKING THE WINDOWS –Walking in Midtown Manhattan during this holiday season is one of the best ways to enjoy Christmastime in New York. On your way to Rockefeller Center, you should plan a walking route that will take you past some of New York’s premier department stores and their breath-taking window displays. The stores to see (and they are all within walking distance of one another) are: Bloomingdale’s* at 59th St/Lexington Ave., SAKS Fifth Avenue at 49th St., Bergdorf Goodman’s on Fifth Ave/58th St., Barney’s on Madison Ave/61st St. * Bloomingdale’s is a great place for your kids to visit Santa. ** Not within walking distance BUT certainly a New York holiday experience is a trip to Macy’s, the renowned Christmas store in Miracle on 34th Street.
The UNICEF SNOWFLAKE –Strolling along Fifth Avenue in the evening is a treat in itself. This is the time when the City lights up! Look up and follow the Star on Fifth Avenue. Since 1984, the Snowflake has been a holiday tradition. The snowflake was dedicated to Unicef by the Sotheby family in 2002. The original snowflake now hangs high above the Beverly Wilshire on Rodeo Drive. In 2005, a new Snowflake was created by Ingo Maurer of Germany in collaboration with the Baccarat Crystal company. The Snowflake has 12 double-sided branches, contains 16,000 crystals, is 23 feet wide and over 28 feet high. Quite amazing!! And then there’s CARTIER all wrapped up in a big red bow!
The Unicef Snowflake
SERENDIPTY 3 – FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE! Seriously now, can you imagine just how delicious that is?? No, you can’t. So you should give yourself a break from site-seeing and go to Serendipity 3 located at 225 East 60th St. Frozen Hot Chocolate is a treat not to be missed.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART– No trip to New York City regardless of the season is complete without a visit to THE MET. One of the season’s glories is the BAROQUE CHRISTMAS TREE adorned with hand-crafted Neapolitan angels and surrounded with the BEST Nativity scene ever. Hundreds of figures populate various scenes related to the story of The Nativity. It is truly beautiful! Note: The entry fee is “what you wish to pay” (really)!
CHRISTMAS MARKETS – There are Christmas markets throughout the City, not as spectacular as those in Germany but they are here. Check out Union Square, Columbus Circle and Bryant Park for a wide selection of craft items, art, outerwear and gifts of all sizes for all ages.
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDENS – If you think there’s nothing Christmasy to see at The Botanical Gardens, you’re way wrong! There is a spectacular Holiday Train exhibit there. You will marvel at the model trains and landmark replicas. This exhibit is worth the trip to the Bronx and you can get there by subway and bus.
The Holiday Train Exhibit
Botanical Gardens

11. BONUS: GINGERBREAD ADVENTURES – Children explore the spices that make up a classic gingerbread recipe. Kids can step inside a child-sized gingerbread playhouse and also decorate a gingersnap cookie with frosting and candies. All ages will enjoy viewing a display of gingerbread houses made by New York City-area bakers.

Photos: 80th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony (photos.denverpost.com)

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Yellow Is The Color Of My True Love’s …

Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Central Park, Color, Color scheme, Genetics, Murray Head, New York City, Pets, Psychology, Recreation, Sensation and Perception, Social Sciences, yellow fever on November 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I said this was a photo week and it does seem to be shaping up that way! Look at these bursts of color and then tell me, is it true that the color yellow is uplifting and illuminating? In world of color psychology, the color yellow denotes intellect. It is optimistic and cheerful and yet also associated with criticism, impatience and cowardice.

What do you feel when you see these photos?