Slumdog New York?

Morning in Central Park

Going to New York City this past weekend reminded me of this year's best film Slumdog Millionaire. The film, shot and set in Mumbai (once known as Bombay), follows a young street beggar who appears on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and exceeds people's expectations.
The film shows both Mumbai's poverty stricken slums of the poor and the glamorous new developments of the rich. While New York City is certainly no Mumbai, you can still see the poor south Asian immigrants on 6th Ave selling cashmere scarfs, the Chinese on Canal Street hawking patriotic ware, and the West Africans peddling beads and 10 for $10 dollar "I Love NYC" shirts in Soho. In our flat--or at least curved--world these are all minor success stories just like Slumdog's protagonist Jamal. In some ways that is what makes New York City such a redemptive space. It is filled with the hopes and dreams--however imperfectly practiced--of the world's citizens.

Of course there's also those classic spots such as Central Park and Rockefeller Plaza. Places that Toni and I, and our friends Jefta and Tate, were happy to visit this past Sunday. But they don't really compare to the cultural diversity that can be seen on the less glamorous streets.















In front of 'The Tree' at Rockefeller

Thanksgiving 2008

Old City Philadelphia

This Thanksgiving week Ben and I were graced with the presence of his parents who came out from Minnesota.

It was a wonderful 3 days of seeing Philadelphia, eating lots of good food, playing games and taking a day trip up to NYC on Black Friday. While in NYC we made it on the Today Show, saw the Rockefeller Center tree and rink and even fit in a little shopping.

Thanks for making the trip!

Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade


Rockefeller Center Ice Rink


Times Square


Glogg on our Roof

Adirondack Weekend

Hiking the Moss Lake Trail

This weekend Ben and I were able to get away to a cabin up in the Adirondack mountains in New York. At the last minute we asked Ben's brother Paul and his wife Jodi to come along with us and we were so excited when they said they were actually free. It was a great weekend to catch up with them during many games, hiking and looking around the small town of Old Forge.


Brothers and Bailey ready for a hike


Hiking in the snow

Windy City Weekend

Judson showing Ben and I around his campus.

This weekend Ben participated in a history conference in Chicago so I thought I would tag along for a fun weekend in the Windy City, which by the way is named after talkative politicians--as in "you windbag!" (thanks Ben) We visited my brother Judson in north Chicago--definitely Cubs territory. Kata, my sister, soon joined us from Minnesota and we head to Wheaton College to see my friend Katie Stemp.

Katie and I with Caribou Coffee!

On Saturday Kata and I headed over to Judson's North Park campus to see his place and head downtown. We spent time in Millennium Park, on Michigan Ave and headed to the famous Giordano's Pizza for dinner. Sunday Ben was able to get away for a few hours to hang out with our good friend's Kim and Ricky who came down from Milwaukee to hang out with us for the day.

Here are a few pics from the weekend.

In front of 'The Bean' in Millennium Park.


At Giordano's with our famous 'stuffed pizza.'


On Michigan Ave with Kim and Ricky.

Yeah Phillies!

What a fun time to be living in Philadelphia:)

Congratulations Phillies!

Pumpkin Paradise

I don't know why these-gourd squashes are so popular. They're heavy, they rot, and they are so passe post Halloween. In fact, I don't know a single self-professing pumpkin farmer--have you ever heard of a Pumpkaneer? Nonetheless, the Pumpkin/Gourd/Candycorn season is short so we enjoy it while we can. In lieu of more exiting news, here's us buying into these manufactured holidays:

This is us Buying Pumpkins...


And this is us Painting Pumpkins...


And yes, we are now proud owners of two painted pumpkins.

Brooks and Dunn's "Only in America" in 2Pac Country

T& I are suckers for political theater. On perhaps the most beautiful day of the fall, we canned our afternoon bike trip through Valley Forge for a jaunt to one of the most dangerous areas in Philadelphia. Why? Presidential politics of course. Through the kaleidoscope of an election-year fall, a beaten-down inner-city corner in West Philadelphia seems sunnier and happier than the foliage and fauns of General Washington's lush encampment--or for that matter, the rather dull McCain events (no offense John).

In West Philly, the enthusiasm runs rampant. A mix of bicycling, white, UPenn types blend in with Philly's African-American community on 52nd and Locust. A cottage industry of “Barack-the-Vote” paraphernalia dominates the scene. For obvious reasons, T & I decide to skip the Obama rally towel, the Obama cat bandanna, and the Obama meets 2Pac XXL. Our sloganeering consists of those little red, nonpartisan "I voted stickers". The whole setting reminds me of an early Pentecostal meeting--with all its inter-class and inter-race exuberance. By the time the evangelist reaches the stage, it’s a bit of a letdown. BHO begins his standard pie-in-the sky stump speech with a riff on preexisting conditions here, some middle-class tax cut promises there, and an amusing spiel on turning off TVs and fathering over there.

Most interestingly, the usual partisan attacks at McCain are there but the boos are muted. When Obama stops to praise McCain for reining in his rhetoric over the past day people cheer. Now I've been to a fair share of Bush and McCain extravaganzas. And to be fair the energy is almost equivalent--or at least the decibel level of the music, but the energy at these events is mostly directed at the political foe. On 52nd and Locust nobody seemed to care about McCain/Palin--not a single vehement "McSame" or "No Country for Old Men" T-Shirt was to be found. As BHO leaves, the über-country song, “Only in America” is blaring in the streets of West Philly.