New York X: But then again, too few to mention.

 

And so, back from New York.  It seems odd to say that we had a whirlwind tour of Manhattan, given that we had almost eight full days, but it speaks volumes to say that we didn't manage to fit in everything that we had planned, even with just over a week. (Karli's sister and her family went for four days - now that's a whirlwind visit!)

 

However, even with the limitations of time, we did pretty well:  two visits to the Empire State Building (daylight and nighttime); a backstage tour of NBC Studios;  the MOMA, the Met, the Whitney and the Museum of Natural History; the 9/11 Memorial, which may or may not count as a museum at this point in time; a wonderful wander through Central Park and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge; two Broadway shows, Wicked and Chicago; some excellent dining experiences, with particular praise for Co. Pizza, Tacombi, Ivan Ramen and PizzArte; and the endlessly entertaining experience of just walking the streets of the city.

I'd also like to thank Michelle for our ideal little AirBnB pied-à-terre in Chelsea. And, as always, my girlfriend Karli was the perfect travel companion - New York would have been dull and tedious without you, my love.

But I do have one regret from the trip: I didn't find the used science fiction bookstore of my dreams.  Given the pivotal position that New York occupies in the development of modern science fiction, combined with a general belief that if you want to buy something, it will be available in New York, I had high hopes for finding a few gems to add to my collection.

The Strand bookstore was a great location, but I obviously misunderstood their position regarding used books. They do purchase used books, but their inventory - at least the portions that I browsed - seemed to be entirely hardcover or trade paperbacks, and relatively recent ones.  I didn't browse through their Rare Books section, but I feel that used science fiction paperbacks only qualify as "rare books" in a few cases (and when they do, they become a rather expensive commodity).  Similarly, Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books was an intriguing little spot, but not a used book venue.

I had hoped that Singularity and Co. would be that store, and all evidence on line indicates that, at one point, it would have been exactly the place I was looking for.  However, online evidence also suggests that both the store and the associated scanning endeavour came to an untimely end (to the frustration and irritation of its Kickstarter™ supporters) leaving behind nothing but an empty rental space in Brooklyn and the digital equivalent for their web site.

Further research indicates that had I broadened my search, I might have found what I was looking for in one of the surrounding boroughs, but with the exception of our brief jaunt over to DUMBO, our plans never extended to leaving Manhattan.

Ah, well...there's always next time.

- Sid

New York IX: Angels in America.

"New York, the city of a million stories. Half of them are true, the other half just haven't happened yet." 

Sam Garner:  The Angels Take Manhattan, Doctor Who

Did you know that Central Park isn't a natural phenomenon?  Until I took the Big Bus tour of Manhattan, I shared the popular impression that the Park was a little piece of wilderness that had been set aside as a common space during the growth of New York.

I was quite surprised to discover that, in fact, every tree, rock, pool and pathway in Central Park is deliberate, the result of the Greensward Plan which was drafted in 1856 by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner Calvert Vaux.*  Olmsted and Vaux treated the park as a blank canvas - their plan called for a complete reconstruction of the 843 acre location, creating a deliberately picturesque and pastoral oasis in the centre of Manhattan. 

Regardless of its origins, Central Park has a special place in the hearts of Doctor Who fans as the location of the poignant farewell to Doctor companions Amy and Rory in the Season 8 episode The Angels Take Manhattan, filmed on location in New York.**

 

It's always interesting to visit a filming location and see how the production version compares with real life - or real geography, in this case. For example, Rory certainly covers a lot of ground on his coffee run near the start of the episode: the trio are enjoying their picnic near the southeast corner of the park, and he encounters a Weeping Angel near Bethesda Terrace, which suggests that he must have gone to the Loeb Boathouse for coffee. That would be about a solid half mile of walking, depending on exactly where he started.  On the other hand, he's just escaped from a conversation about the signs of aging on his wife's face, so he may be deliberately taking his time.

 

Subsequent action takes place throughout the city, although I'm not sure about the location of the cemetery in which the Doctor says his final farewell to Amy (not counting her appearance for Matt Smith's final episode).  We were able to find the park bench where the Doctor reads Amy's final farewell to him, though.

"Hello, old friend, and here we are. You and me, on the last page."

"I should have worn a bow tie for this, bow ties are cool."

When Karli and I visited Bethesda Fountain during one of our strolls through Central Park, I was sharply reminded of the downside of the immobile Weeping Angel lifestyle, the one that never seems to come up on the show...

...pigeons.

- Sid

* Okay, almost every.  The original plan did not include playgrounds, and the Zoo also was not part of the original plan, but was rather the result of informal donations of exotic animals to the Park, which led to the founding of an official home for the menagerie in 1864.

** Mostly on location.  They did some additional greenscreen shooting in Cardiff when they got home.

New York VIII: 18 Miles of Books.

As a bibliophile*, there was obviously no way I was going to visit New York without shopping for books.  (We also did some shoe shopping for Karli - it's important that both people in a relationship get to enjoy their interests when travelling together.)  We managed to get to three bookstores during our time in Manhattan, which between them represented almost the full spectrum of independent book retailing.

(Come to think of it, I can’t think of many chain bookstore spottings during our time in Manhattan, which probably speaks to the difficulties of maintaining a storefront in the age of internet shopping.)

On Thursday morning, we made our way to Greenwich Village via the High Line, New York's groundbreaking elevated railway-park conversion.  After an excellent lunch at the trendy Spotted Pig, and a quick photo op at Carrie Bradshaw's brownstone**, we stopped at Book Book, located on Bleecker Street in the heart of the Village.

Book Book is very much the archetypal small generalist bookstore: a little bit of everything with a focus on mainstream fiction, discounted hardcovers, and an acceptable selection of affordable remainders.  It's a well-lit space, with a good layout that makes for easy browsing.

Due to the limitations of Book Book's modest footprint, their science fiction and fantasy section is almost non-existent, restricted to five shelves at the back of the store. That being said, I have to give them credit for its comprehensive nature. If someone told me to stock five shelves with what I considered to be the best of science fiction and fantasy, I would be hard pressed to improve upon Book Book’s tiny perfect offering.

Next stop was Carmine Street and Unoppressive Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, which managed to live up to all the parts of its name - I found it lacking in both oppression and imperialistic ambitions, and it had an interesting selection of affordable reading. UNIBB and its sister store Carmine Comics each occupy about as much space as my spare bedroom, but still manage to offer interesting if somewhat cramped shopping. The store offers an eclectic range of bargain books with more of a focus on music, politics and philosophy than science fiction, but I spotted - and purchased - a hardcover copy of Give Our Regards to the Atom-smashers!, a collection of essays on comic books edited by Sean Howe, affordably priced at $7.00 after taxes.

According to Wikipedia, The Strand, New York’s best known independent book store, has about 2.5 million volumes in its four story Broadway location - or, as they prefer to put it, 18 miles of books. The problem with having that sort of inventory is, of course, finding the shelf space to display it. The Strand’s solution is relatively narrow aisles, quite high bookshelves, and a good supply of stepladders.*** This may allow them to fit everything in, but the result is that casual browsing is a bit of a challenge.

It would have been fascinating to methodically work my way through all the shelves in their Science Fiction and Fantasy section, but there are times when you just have to be realistic.  As such, I decided to let chance lead me through the stacks - and after all, it's important to keep the high cost of overweight luggage fees in mind when book shopping in another country.

I'd already picked up a reduced price copy of The Princess Bride from a display near the checkout.  My beloved die-cut cover paperback version has been due for replacement for quite some time, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take care of that.

Coincidentally, one of Karli’s friends had recommended that she read The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, a tale of supernatural romance set in New York, which was fortuitously located at eye level and all but jumped off the shelf at me. Spaceman of Bohemia, Jaroslav Kalfar's debut novel, was a random purchase - again, just at eye level, and I was intrigued by the title. It also fit the New York theme: Kalfar emigrated from the Czech Republic to the US as a teenager, and now lives in Brooklyn.

My final selection at The Strand was more deliberate - I've been planning to buy Joe Abercrombie's Sharp Ends for some time. Abercrombie's grimdark fantasy novels are excellent: original and well written, with a wildly varied cast of detailed and believable characters. Sharp Ends is a collection of short pieces which act as grace notes for the larger episodes set in the world of his First Law novels.

Sharp Ends relies heavily on an existing knowledge of those novels, and as such isn't really a good introduction to Abercrombie's work.  For example, the first story in the book, A Beautiful Bastard, would be meaningless unless the reader is aware that the titular character survives his heroic last stand, is captured, tortured, and reduced to a broken parody of his former self, and subsequently returns to his homeland to appear as the crippled, bitter inquisitor of the First Law trilogy.

Surprisingly, Karli ended up spending more than I did during our Sunday visit to The Strand, thanks to their large selection of giftable merch such as book bags, post cards, literary pins (she generously bought me a Dune pin), t-shirts, hats, and so on.  I purchased myself a t-shirt – it’s unusual for me to buy t-shirts outside of my fandom, but I felt that supporting a book store was an acceptable indulgence. 

I was initially disappointed that I didn't get to The Strand's Books By The Foot department, until subsequent research revealed what it actually was.  Apparently, if you want to create the appearance of being a literary type by having a collection of noteworthy books, but without having to actually, you know, read the damn things or some such silliness, The Strand will cheerfully sell you literature by the foot - all you have to do is measure your bookshelves and provide them with your preferences. For example, if you were a neophyte lawyer, you might want a nice leatherbound library as a Facetime background, or your interior designer could order twenty or thirty feet of colour-coded books to match your new decor.

What a sad affectation!  I may only have about a hundred feet of books, but at least I've read them all - without ever worrying about whether or not the colours clashed with the new couch.

- Sid

* And Karli bought me a pin, see!!?

** See the comment in the first paragraph about both people enjoying their interests.

*** “This is my stepladder. Sadly, I never knew my real ladder.”

New York VII: "The whole universe was in a hot dense state..."

 

We visited the Museum of Natural History today, and I have a bone to pick* with their retail people. Why in the world have you neglected to stock any of Chris Hadfield's books?  My god, the man has been a New York Times bestselling author not once but twice, his Space Oddity video has been viewed 37.7 million times, he has 2.28 million Twitter™ followers - 2.5 million people have watched the man brush his teeth on YouTube™, for heaven's sake! Does that not sound like someone whose books might be a popular sales item? Step up, people!

- Sid

 

P.S.  Just for the record, I have nothing against Mike Massimino - nice guy, also a New York Times bestselling author, been on The Big Bang Theory six times...hey!  Why hasn't Chris Hadfield been on The Big Bang Theory??**  My god, the man has been a New York Times bestselling author not once but twice...

* Given their display of fossils, this seems apt.

**  But seriously, why hasn't he? 

New York VI: Death of a Foy

"It's Herald Square, not Harold's." 

Karli Thomas, New York, October 2017

It was extremely unusual for a Foy to be dying on earth. They were the highest social class on their planet (which had a name that was pronounced — as nearly as earthly throats could make the sounds — Sortibackenstrete) and were virtually immortal.

Every Foy, of course, came to a voluntary death eventually, and this one had given up because of an ill-starred love affair, if you can call it a love affair where five individuals, in order to reproduce, must indulge in a yearlong mental contact. Apparently, the Foy had not fit into the contact after several months of trying, and it had broken his heart — or hearts, for he had five.

All Foys had five large hearts and there was speculation that it was this that made them virtually immortal.

Maude Briscoe, earth’s most renowned surgeon, wanted those hearts. “It can’t be just their number and size, Ray,” she said to her chief assistant. “It has to be something physiological or biochemical. I must have them.”

“I don’t know if we can manage that,” said Ray Johnson. “I’ve been speaking to him earnestly, trying to overcome the Foy taboo against dismemberment after death. I’ve had to lie to him, Maude.”

“Lie?”

“I told him that after death, there would be a dirge sung for him by the world-famous choir led by Harold J. Gassenbaum. I told him that, by earthly belief, this would mean that his astral essence would be instantaneously wafted back, through hyperspace, to his home planet of Sortib-what’s-it’s-name — provided he would sign a release allowing you, Maude, to have his hearts for scientific investigation.”

“Don’t tell me he believed that.”

“Well, you know this modern attitude about accepting the myths and beliefs of intelligent aliens. It wouldn’t have been polite for him not to believe me. Besides, the Foys have a profound admiration for earthly science and I think this one is a little flattered that we should want his hearts. He promised to consider the suggestion and I hope he decides soon because he can’t live more than another, day or so, and we must have his permission by interstellar law, and the hearts must be fresh — Ah, his signal.”

Ray Johnson moved in with smooth and noiseless speed. “Yes?” he whispered, unobtrusively turning on the holographic recording device in case the Foy wished to grant permission.

The Foy’s large, gnarled, rather tree like body lay motionless on the bed. His bulging eyes palpitated — all five of them — as they rose, each on its stalk, and turned toward Ray. The Foy’s voice had a strange tone and the lipless edges of his open round mouth did not move, but the words formed perfectly. His eyes were making the Foyan gestures of assent as he said, “Give my big hearts to Maude, Ray. Dismember me for Harold’s choir. Tell all the Foys on Sortibackenstrete that I will soon be there...”

Isaac Asimov, 1980

- Sid

P.S. If by some chance, dear reader, youth or some other impediment makes this joke incomprehensible, I refer you to the following:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/al+jolson/give+my+regards+to+broadway_20831246.html

P.P.S.  Technically speaking, this story is a Feghoot, named after the Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot series of short stories written by Grendel Briarton, science fiction author Reginald Bretnor's anagrammatic alter ego.

New York V (and a half): "We have a Hulk!"

Speaking of Marvel Comics and New York, perception is a funny thing.  Until I visited Manhattan and took pictures of the skyline, I had honestly never noticed that the Chrysler Building is right behind Loki throughout this entire scene from The Avengers.

- Sid

New York V: Marvel Spotlight

 

I love this city!  
Love it! 
And, really, the best part about being Spider-Man is getting to swing around up here and just...take it all in.  
The best part!

Spider-Men, Issue #1

As part of our New York trip planning, Karli and I purchased New York Passes, a sort of all-in-one entry card to the full range of attractions in the city.  It's a bit of a gamble - if you spend $300 on something like this, the trick is to make sure that you visit enough of the included locations to at least break even, if not get ahead.*

One of the options available on the Pass was a day of travel on the Big Bus, a hop on/hop off bus service with different routes around Manhattan, as well as a loop over the East River to Brooklyn.  Yesterday we hopped on the Big Bus after visiting the Empire State Building - travel tip, best time to visit the Empire State Building is before 9:00 AM - and headed out on the downtown loop.

Nick, our affable guide, pointed out points of historical interest as we headed south.   As we approached the Flatiron Building, he said, "Right in front of us is the Flatiron Building - does anyone know why it's famous?"

Hmmm, I thought, there are some iconic photos by Stieglitz and Steichen** taken around the turn of the 20th century, but that's a bit obscure...

Nick smiled broadly and announced, "Peter Parker worked there, that's where the Daily Bugle had its offices.  You may have heard of Peter Parker - he took a lot of great pictures of Spider-Man!"

Nick's comment illustrates the degree that Marvel Comics is a part of New York City, and vice versa.

In some ways, I was familiar with New York for a long time without ever leaving Canada - if you were a Marvel fan, you were a fan of New York as well. Marvel Comics was all about New York: the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building was at 42nd and Madison Avenue, the Avengers' mansion (Tony Stark's, really) ate up an entire city block at 890 Fifth Avenue, Doctor Strange's sanctum sanctorum was at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Matt Murdock had a brownstone on Sutton Place before he returned to his childhood neighbourhood in Hell's Kitchen, and Peter Parker lived in an apartment at 410 Chelsea (just off 8th Avenue at 12th) after he moved out of Aunt May's place in the Forest Hills part of Queens.

But it wasn't just about addresses. New York was their battleground. Galactus loomed over Manhattan, Doctor Doom plucked the Baxter Building from its foundations, the Mole Men flooded up from the bowels of the city, the X-Men*** defeated the Brotherhood of Mutants at the United Nations plaza, Namor the Submariner invaded from the East River, and Spider-Man dueled the Green Goblin in the skies over the city streets.

Looking at the rooftops of the city from the Empire State Building, it's obvious that Marvel's artists drew what they saw:  skyscrapers, girders, water towers, fire escapes, air conditioners, brick walls, breezeways and alleys, the urban environment in which the wicked fled and the righteous pursued.

DC made a different decision when they chose to create their own geography for the United States:  Metropolis, Gotham, Coast City, and so on.  That decision gave them much more creative freedom, which they used to create elements like the intriguing dark/light dichotomy between Gotham and Metropolis (and Batman and Superman).

However, the Marvel characters have always been more embedded in the real world, as show by the manner in which Marvel paid homage to the tragedy of 9/11 and the heroism of the emergency responders in Amazing Spider-Man #36, with its sombre black cover.

Sadly, Marvel Comics itself doesn't really have a presence in Manhattan, or at least not the visible presence that you might expect.  I did some research and managed to track down the current address of Marvel Comics - 60,000 square feet at 135 W. 50th Street - and I was underwhelmed when we paid the building a visit. I didn't actually expect it to be like Disneyland, but I had hoped that there would be some indication that I was standing on the threshold of the Mighty Marvel Idea Factory, as Stan Lee described it.

 

Not only that, but Marvel doesn't do tours, which I think is a mistake on their part. I'd love the opportunity to look over the shoulders of one of the current crop of artists - from a discrete distance, of course. I've seen pictures from the rare occasions that Marvel invites the media into their space, and it looks fascinating: costumes from the movies, shelves of comics, displays of artwork, and so on.

Karli and I did the popular backstage tour of the NBC Studios at 30 Rock, and, no offense to Jimmy Fallon, but seeing where they produce Marvel comic books would easily be twice as cool as seeing the Tonight Show studio - although, let's be realistic, still not as cool as the Saturday Night Live stage.

- Sid

* We've got three and a half days left, and Karli is keeping track of our usage so we can figure out whether or not we broke even.

** History of Photography, Ryerson Polytechnical - it doesn't come up much here, but I actually have a degree in Photography (with a major in Instructional Media, an ambiguous credential which has stood me in good stead over the years).

*** If you were wondering, Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children is located near Danbury, about 50 miles north of Manhattan.

New York IV: The cost of doing business.

 

 Starlord: galaxy.  The Avengers: Earth. Spider-Man:  NYC.  And then there's Daredevil, micromanaging the shit out of 10 blocks in midtown Manhattan.

Hell's Kitchen in New York isn't what is used to be.  Two waves of gentrification since the 70s have considerably changed the face of what used to be a haven for crime - ironically, including the introduction of critically recognized dining options.

But that's all different in Daredevil's world.  There, Hell's Kitchen is a disadvantaged neighbourhood desperately in need of his protection from a cabal of organized crime groups, led by Wilson Fisk, the villainous Kingpin  - at least until Daredevil fights him to a standstill and turns him over to the police.

Watching all of that take place in the Daredevil Netflix™ series, I was startled by the graphic nature of the damage suffered by Matt Murdock, the man behind Daredevil's various masks.  For a long time, crimefighting in the Marvel universe was a relatively bloodless prospect,  at least until Wolverine and his adamantium claws entered the scene in the 1975 as one of the new X-Men. When artist Frank Miller also took over the writing for the Daredevil comic book in 1979, he raised the ante in terms of bloodshed.

However, four-colour comic-book violence can only be so realistic - the Netflix™ version much more plausibly presents the consequences of going toe-to-toe with supervillains and their minions on a regular basis.  After all, Daredevil's only powers are his enhanced senses:  to misquote Shakespeare, if you cut him, he bleeds.

Oh, and if you watch a few episodes and find it too be a little too much?  Then I strongly recommend you stay away from the upcoming Punisher series - Frank Castle makes Daredevil look like Hello Kitty by comparison.

- Sid

New York III: Interzone

 

Program a map to display frequency of data exchange, every thousand megabytes a single pixel on a very large screen.  Manhattan and Atlanta burn solid white.  Then they start to pulse, the rate of traffic threatening to overload your simulation.  Your map is about to go nova.  Cool it down.  Up your scale. Each pixel a million megabytes.  At a hundred million megabytes per second, you begin to make out certain blocks in midtown Manhattan...

William Gibson, Neuromancer

- Sid

New York II: Where is Samuel L Jackson when you need him?

Good afternoon, and hello from New York on an unseasonably warm October day.

It would be impossible to list all the science fiction or fantasy stories that are set here.  They occupy the full range from King Kong's appearance on Broadway through the first Godzilla reboot to Cloverfield, and from Doc Savage and The Shadow up to Snake Plissken's Escape From New York to the Avengers.

"I had a date."

"Me too - except mine is taking the picture."

One of my favourites is Steve Roger's awakening at Shield Headquarters, where he realizes that he's being lied to and breaks out of confinement, only to discover himself in a far more disturbing environment than a fake hospital room.  It's a poignant scene - odd how none of the Captain America movies have what you could call a happy ending.

 

By the way, if you've ever wondered, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York City address is 219 West 47th Street, just down the street from the Barrymore Theatre. 

But don't go looking for their name on the list of tenants - we asked about it today and their security people had NO sense of humour.

- Sid

New York I: Singularity.

Captain America:  "You got heart, kid. Where are you from?"
Spider-Man:  "Queens."
Captain America:  "Brooklyn!"

Captain American: Civil War

On Monday morning, Karli and I are leaving for a nine day vacation in New York - I haven't been to the city that never sleeps just as a tourist for about 30 years, and Karli has never been, so we're both really looking forward to the trip.

At the start of the planning process, Karli decided that she wanted to get more of a physical understanding of where things were in relation to each other, so I printed out a large map of south Manhattan, which she put on a cork board and proceeded to annotate with push pins indicating sightseeing destinations, dining locations, and shopping opportunities. We've since transferred the results to an iOS app* for the trip, but Karli's push pin planning process was the perfect starting point - it gave us a feel for locations and combined opportunities that we would never have gotten from an LCD screen.

If you look at the resulting map, there's a lonely unlabelled black pin in Brooklyn, just at the end of the Manhattan Bridge in the fashionable DUMBO** neighbourhood.  It's not so much a destination as a memorial: that pin marks the location of Singularity and Co., a Kickstarter™-funded science fiction bookstore that opened its doors in 2012 - and closed them at some point in the last year or so, as far as I can tell. Their Facebook™ page confidently says that they're open right now, but Yelp reports them as permanently closed (as do some Facebook™ comments), and their online shop has gone dark.

 

It always makes me sad when I see that a bookstore has gone under, especially a science fiction bookstore. I realize that the future will be digital, which makes Singularity and Co.'s original Kickstarter™ mandate of converting lost texts a commendable one, but like a fan of vinyl albums, I can't let go of my attachment to the physical media - and physical bookstores. The majority of my book shopping is for older books - for me, the yellow-paged paperbacks from the 50s and 60s, with their classic covers and their lurid teasers*** represent science fiction and fantasy as I first discovered it, and because of that I treasure the older books in my collection.

Our final planning list has a pretty good selection of New York bookstores that will undoubtedly provide me with a wide selection of genre shopping , but I'm disappointed that Singularity and Co. isn't one of them. However, I haven't completely given up hope. I'm hoping that, as with Mark Twain, the reports of their death are greatly exaggerated. We'll probably be crossing the Brooklyn Bridge regardless, and once there, it's only a short detour to just check on that DUMBO storefront location - as they say, hope springs eternal, and that pin is still in the map.

- Sid

* An unpaid product endorsement: if you're going to New York and want to plan your trip in a format that you can access offline, I strongly recommend the New York Travel Guide and Offline City Map app from Ulmon. It's done everything we wanted and needed for planning our trip, and it was free.

** Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - no, really.

*** I could probably do a blog posting just on classic science fiction and fantasy teaser lines and their complete reliance on exclamation points:
"Trapped in the graveyard of lost spaceships!"
"Duel of the Cosmic Magicians!"
"The Galaxy Master - planets and women were his pawns!"
"Cosmic peril in a lost world!"