Roosevelt Island Talk
The Roosevelt Island Suitcases talk went really well. Took this photo from the Tramway on the way back to Grand Central.
I made it back just in time to get the 9.06 to New Haven.
Thanks to Judy Berdy of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society for inviting me back. It was a lovely evening.
Julianne Wick Davis / Grand Central Station
The evening at Joe’s Pub was amazing. Julianne Wick Davis’ song cycle based on my suitcases photos was really incredible. I was completely blown away by her talent and drive to get this going. The project is still in the early stages of development, but it is so exciting to have been an inspiration to her. / I was so thrilled that my buddy from Wittenberg, Chris Brigham came out from Chicago for the event. It was so great to see her.
I am on the Metro North train heading back to New Haven which goes in and out of Grand Central Station.
It is quite a place.
The suitcases site has been having a slew of problems of late. We are close to getting it sorted and it is currently back up and running. It appears that it has been innundated with bot attacks attempting to take over the site. Thanks to Steve Fox at Born Digital for all his hard work. It has been very frustrating and costly, but fingers crossed we are working towards a resolution. Cheers all, and thanks for following.
Opening Day
I will often go to Fenway without a ticket in the hope that something will pop up (no pun intended). When I got to the park I was amazed to see the line for the “day of game” tickets was quite short so I queued up and snagged a cheap (for the Sox) ticket out in the right field grandstand.
It is always special to walk into Fenway, especially on opening day.
The NESN sideline reporter was ready for the cold, but it warmed up nicely. By the 4th inning I took off my jacket, down vest, and wool sweater.
I am including this shot for Peter Carroll. Look closely and you will notice that the “camera” on the tripod for this guy’s live feed is an iPhone! Amazing.
The Sox were playing the Pirates, and I am including this shot for my son Peter. We joke a lot about the 1970s Pirates hats, and this gentleman was totally decked out, including his Willie Stargell jersey. He wasn’t so happy at the end of the day, as the Sox won 5-3.
I ended up sitting in the second row of right field box 88, and had a really enjoyable time with the usher in that section, Bobby the Brick. It was a blast to watch him work the game; keeping people moving, and bantering with the crowd. He would randomly ask folks what the score was, how many runners were on base, etc, just to make sure we were all paying attention. He is a totally great guy who grew up in the North End and loves his job.
I always like to look around between innings. My seat was just under the retired numbers of famous Red Sox players. Love that blue sky.
This was the first time I had taken the Commuter Rail to the park. There is a new stop just steps from Fenway and it was great. I love trains.
Howth
We have been spending most of our time in busy cities on this trip, so we decided to take the DART train to Howth yesterday and spend some time on the coastal path.
This is a lovely seaside fishing village, and since it was Sunday it was a bit crowded, but we really wanted to walk, so it was worth it.
As we walked through the carpark at the beginning of the path, we saw a guy in a superman costume get out of a taxi. We didn’t think much about it at the time since it was a few days before Halloween. We started our walk, and some minutes later looked down to a little island just off the coast and saw him jump off a diving platform. He is in mid-flight in this photo but it is a bit difficult to see him. Look for the red spot on the left. Wild.
It was a lovely day. Not too hot, not too cool.
Ireland is really green, and like Cornwall has a really interesting variety of plants.
I can never keep these things straight, but I think this is gorse. So lovely.
There were amazing views throughout the walk. In the foreground is an entire field of ferns that are just starting to turn brown.
At one point the coast path crossed an enormous golf course. We were instructed to stay quiet. We obliged, and we did see some golfers teeing off. It would have been a lovely day to play 18.
But by far the coolest part of the walk was when we went through the Bog of Frogs. It was boggy, but not noticeably froggy.
We walked well over 10 miles, and it was spectacular. It was great to get a pint and some fish and chips once back in Howth.
As we waited for the train to Dublin, a Carphone Warehouse advert kept scrolling through this sign at the station.
Once back in Dublin, we stopped at Mary’s Bar and Hardware for a whiskey. They really love JFK here. And the whiskey was nice.
New Haven Union Station
I picked up Peter at Union Station this afternoon. It was a beautiful day.
Off to Montreal tomorrow to watch Friday’s France / Germany WWC match. O Canada.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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