I am sure you had more fun than I did on New Years Eve. I laid down around 5pm and didn't get up until 2pm on New Years Day. Thing is, my belly has been in turmoil the whole time I was in Key West and it still is. Didn't find out until too late, that the drinking water in Key West is full of bacteria "fecal e-coli bacteria " ew!!!!!!!!! My own fault for drinking tap water. I won't do it again. UGH!
So, after almost 20 hours in bed, with pooh and my MAC (watching some Survivor episodes- my new favorite show), I decided to take a walk and get some fresh (and fucking FREEZING) air in Central Park. It was pretty much empty apart from some brave German tourists (I could hear them chatting away in German) as they are used to strolling around on Holidays and Sundays, regardless of the weather.
A new book I came across called "NFT " (Not for Tourist) lead me to this Castle called "Belvedere Castle". I had never knew it even existed before.
BIG difference in clothing compared to just the other day when I was just wearing a bikini in FLA. brrrrrrrrr. I feel like the Michelin Man in all of these layers.
Oh well, I do indeed miss Florida already. I miss the sun and the warmth badly. I will have to lick my wounds a few more days and get up and at 'em though again, as you do. It felt good NOT being hung over on New Years Day though.
Cold or not, I still LOVE NYC.
I may have had a boring New Years eve, but I had one of the best Christmas eve's I have ever had.
Last night at around 10 minutes past midnight (it had just turned Dec 8th), I drove to 72nd street, corner of Central Park west to the Dakota building. There was NO ONE around, not even a guard. I sat in my car blasting Hide your love away, feeling eeire- thinking this is the same spot John Lennon was shot in 1980. Imagining that horrible scene gives you a nasty chill, especially when you are at the scene of the crime. Then an overwhelming feeling of sadness comes over you. Hard to describe, you just have to visit the place to FEEL what I mean.
Every year on Dec 8th Beatles fans gather in Strawberry Fields to sing Beatles and John Lennon songs. I got there around 7 pm at night, it was naturally dark and FREEZING BEYOND belief (20 degrees fahrenheit/-1 celcius) AND it was windy as FOOK.
The bitter weather didn't stop the vigil. Every one sings along to the 5 or 6 guitarist who were in the middle of the circle they formed around the Imagine mosaic. I went alone, didn't know anyone there- and just sang along with everyone, as you do. It felt SO NICE to be around other Beatle fans. SO FUCKING AWESOME.
It was extremely difficult to get a picture or get anywhere close to the middle.. so many swarmed around it.. I had to stand on tippie-toes and take these pictures (not a place to get even slightly pushy so you just wait and try)
Not sure how long the guitarists were all there, but I could only take an hour of the brutal cold. My toes were frozen solid and I had a hard time walking back to my car as my toes would not bend anymore; I looked like marching soldier the way I was walking, lol, trying to avoid bending icy toes out of fear they would have snapped in two lol. Only hardcore Beatles freaks were there, you could tell. Everyone knew every word to every song and people were even making the electric guitar notes in 'Something'
When I left they were in the middle of 'Let it be'. No sign of Yoko this year. She did come out to the vigil in 2005 though.
After the vigil I went to an amazing wine bar and met some wonderful new friends. You just never know who you will meet in this city. Then I met up with Jonesy and we went and did some karaoke. I sang "Helter Skelter" as my Beatles tune for the night. I wore a Beatles shirt too to show love. John Lennon; gone but never, ever forgotten. Mark David Chapman – may you rot in hell.
Normally on the 1 of May Berlin is chaotic and a tad dangerous… I brought my camera out just in case I came across such action on my daily strut through the park across from my flat in Berlin. This is the video material I gathered on the 1st of May.. (above)
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"May 1 is a bubbling sea of discontent. The urban masses are a flurry with protest, parade, and party. Though in recent years a series of more benign events have taken some of the anger out of the day's mood, May Day is traditionally when a motley collection of left and radical groups — communist, socialist, revolutionary, and anarchist — get out for good old Berlin-style demonstrations. In addition to the primary evil, crappy work conditions and compensation, participants protest any and all things negative: racism, sexism, environmental damage, and globalization/capitalism. Other causes are uniquely Berlin: for instance there was last year's march for the release of a jailed Red Army Faction terrorist, a concern that harkens back to West Berlin as the breeding ground for terrorist groups in the late-1960s and 1970s).
Amid the ruckus, Berlin emerges yet again as a metropolis of contradictions. For starters, May 1 in Germany has seen street fights between right- and left-wing radical groups, as when the far right NPD and gangs of neo-Nazi ruffians decide that they can use the day for their own cause, which then leads to battle with Nazi opposition groups. These violent conflicts obviously contradict the messages of coexistence and peace that are the focus of several of the other groups hitting the streets on May Day.
These clashes aside, most of the violence comes from people with little political motivation — a wave of wayward punks and anarchists out for a little destructive fun. More like football hooligans than pensive protesters, these angry champions of disorder charge through the streets come nightfall looking for a chance to throw bottles and/or rocks at cops, vandalize, and, most notoriously, set cars, garbage cans, and such on fire. Their rage against authority just causes grief for a bunch of unempowered average Berliners — the residents of Kreuzberg, street cleaners, and other unlucky souls forced to deal with the aftermath.
I'm eager to see how things play out this year, after the peaceful and goal-oriented activists managed to win the day (but not the night) for constructive purposes last year. But as this year marks the 80th anniversary of Blutmai (Blood May), during which the police injured and killed protesters, it'll be interesting to see who'll claim that as their precedent (and how).
There are eleven demonstrations planned so far this year. On April 1 alone, exactly one month before the Tag der Arbeit, three revolutionary groups registered their May Day protests with the city's police. So, as in years prior, the Revolutionäre 1 Mai Demonstration will begin at 1 p.m. in Kreuzberg (pictured above). Then two other rallies will also hit the streets: Mayday beginning at 2 p.m. and Gegen Kapital und Krieg (literally 'Against Capital and War') at 5 p.m. Once you tire of watching these spectacles, you can wander MyFest, the neighborhood's fantastic street festival. Just be sure to batten down the hatches come nightfall." From Gridskipper.com
