The Great Star Wars swindle...

We kicked off today with a trip to the Guggenheim museum. Pretty amazing place... both architecturally and visually. Generally it's an art museum, with pieces from a host of eras and some truly renowned artists. Unfortunately, you can't take photos there, so I can't do much of the show and tell thing, but you can look it all up on the world wide web should you care. I personally am not much of a fan of the greats when it comes to art, but it was pretty amazing to see original paintings by Kadinsky, Picasso, Matisse, Renoir etc.

I was most taken by the contemporary or modern sorts of pieces. Stark, but engaging and I really like the modern view of what constitutes art. Like music, it offers the idea that even someone as artistically challenged in the traditional sense as I am, can even engage and output art myself.

Michelle's own art installation piece.







Michelle had a nap this afternoon while I went off and did some more shopping. I've eliminated my need to return to 3rd st for any more CDs, so that's a good thing. I walked 50+ blocks today and did some CD shopping in a tidy 2 hours. If you've never been to NY, the distance that constitutes a block is not quite the same as an LA block. Word to the wise.

While I think of it, when we were in LV, Cirque de Soileil was playing literally everywhere. I love how Jack from Will and Grace called is Cirque de So Lame. he he. Been meaning to write that down for a goat's age. God knows I said it enough times while we were there he he he.

We had dinner at this Mexican place we came to last time. Nice, but we both had horrific indigestion after it. We decided to do some more shopping down at 42nd St... good news for some of our family members back home he he, and yeah, felt a little better to be moving around.

Are there ever enough pix of me with a beverage in my hand?

And below, Michelle and I at Times Square.















We hit Toys Are Us down at TS, and that place is ginormous! Naturally they had some star wars stuff and again, I got totally T.O'd about some of their wares. For the second time in as many days I have uncovered figures that have absolutely no relation to any of the characters in the movie. Surely the Star Wars syndicate has generated enough merchandise items and made enough billions of dollars that they don't need to invent characters and make figures of said characters. I even tried to engage some guy in a conversation about it, but he looked at me like I just stepped in from Mars. Forgive me for assuming that some nerdy looking geezer standing in the Star Wars section, looking at the Star Wars things would be in some way interested. "I don't know these movies..." he says. I don't know what's worse... made up characters, or idiots who don't even know but wish to consort with the associated goods. Did you know they never even made a figurine for the Cantina Bartender? I mean yeah, they did make one when they reissued the movies for DVD, but c'mon, that's a crock!


Here's Michelle hugging the giant Darth Vader head.

And below, I'm rockin' it with the Tusken Raider action kit. Includes a female TR and a baby TR. I know, you never saw either of those in the movies... so make that 3 made up figures... Don't let my face belie my

outrage either! It's real!

So tomorrow we're off to Washington. That's gonna be swell think. It'll definitely be a fly by nite excursion. I've heard tell it's a 5 day city, but there are a lot of lamers out there who spend ages looking at crap, so I reckon we can do it in a few hours. It's on a day tour, so it's not like we have a choice he he he.

We're meeting up with a pal of mine who worked with me a few years back. he is a Parisian who is currently working in NY, and yeah, looking fwd to that.

No more will I tell you today.

Jason