the labor day weekend offered the shear madness crew an extra day off, so we all hopped in the car and headed south to new york city, where we consequently split up into our respective holiday adventures (jack was two blocks away before i even got out of the car, happy to once again be in the city).
having watched the royal tenenbaums with michael and joe the night before we left, i couldn't help but feel like taking a wes anderson-y picture of my stuff before packing it all up for the trip.
i stayed at beki / parz / chris' place for the weekend, generous hosts all; who else but beki would give her bff the teenage mutant ninja turtles sheets for the futon?
sunday was coney island; the legendary park's future is still uncertain, as it's being threatened with development (as it seems to have been all through its history) and the abolition of its rides in favor of condos and shitheads in polos. it was a perfect day to see it: warm, sunny, and full of people. here cecelia, leah, whuang, parz and beki await their turn on the wonder wheel.
astroland. check out the sky-writing in the upper left.
beki on the beach.
the wonder wheel, having lived 85 years without an accident. i suggest waiting in line for a swinging car; nothing like being five hundred miles up in the sky and having your car feel like it's gonna roll of the top of the wheel.
the atlantic ocean and i meet formally, for the first time.
the cyclone is the oldest wooden roller coaster in operation. built in 1927, this thing rocks. the reason i like wooden roller coasters better than the newer ones is because you actually feel like you're gonna die. pneumatics and fancy mechanics don't slow you down for the turns, you just barrel through the turns and down the drops and get the shit knocked out of you along the way. sorry, darien lake's the predator, but the cyclone is my new fave. i thought it'd be cool to take a video of us during the first drop; i had no idea what i was in for. dan, sitting behind us, thought it was a great stroke of luck that he had the seat behind us all to himself. afterwards, not having anyone to brace against for the ride, he woozied out of the ride thinking it hadn't been that great after all. awesome.and if you pay attention, the best part of this video is us, giving the obligatory "wooos" when we first head down the initial drop; then the "wooos" turn to actual, blood-curtling screams when we realize what we've gotten ourselves into.
the parachute drop. it was turned off in the late sixties, i think, but still stands as a testament to pre-internet days, when theme parks ruled.
waiting for our connecting subway ride home from coney island.
for labor day, we went out to yankee stadium for a game with the mariners. it's a little disappointing to see the new stadium - which will no doubt be named for some faceless, asceptic organization - being build right across the street, but at least i got the chance to sit in yankee stadium. on labor day. on a beautiful labor day. the added bonus? the rocket was pitching. now i can tell my grandkids i saw the grateful dead, bruce springsteen, and roger clemens. even though clemens is obviously past his prime (he got shelled and the yankees lost), it was pretty cool to see a future hall of famer, along with all the usual suspects: a-rod, jeter, and jorge posada. pretty fun.
waiting for a good chance to go get a pretzel.
a couple cops scoping out the stadium after the game.
macaroni and cheese at enid's in williamsburg to round out the weekend.