Penny Arcade

I was a little surprised to see Bob and Blanche in the audience last night at “Giant Dwarf”. Though, I’ve seen them at heaps of theatre events around Sydney, it’s often been at the “top end of town”, whereas “Giant Dwarf” is a little more down-market, and it’s a little more “alternative”. Last night’s show […]

You Will Gobble It Up

There’s something wonderfully chaotic about Katz’s Delicatessen. There were queues everywhere. I don’t know how many waiters there were for how many customers. As soon as someone stood up, there was someone to take their place. Their daily turnover must be huge. And yet in the midst of the apparent chaos, people came in, found […]

Great Views from Brooklyn

The view from the upper “viewing” levels of New York’s Grand Central Station is remarkable. The scale of the place is enormous. The marble floors and walls are almost overwhelming in their beauty. Below you, you look down to see thousands of people going about their daily commute. And then you look around you, and […]

Empire State of Mind

“I was about to send out a search party…” I said to Michaela, remarking on the amount of time I had to wait for her at a restaurant/bar at Coney Island. As the day was warm, and there was a lengthy queue for tables, she suggested I went inside to grab a table while she […]

New York State of Mind

“Oh My God, is that Salman Rushdie?”, I asked Michaela, pointing the older man taking a seat, as we waited only briefly in line for dinner at Balthazar’s Restaurant. As she looked over to confirm, I remembered that moment from “Bridget Jones Diary” where Bridget met Mr Rushdie at a book launch, and as she […]

Harlem Shuffle

“Honey, you’ve come at just the right time…” we were told by an fantastic looking older woman. “This is Harlem Week” she said with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm. Even though she no longer lives in Harlem, she came back especially for this, she told us. Though we had no idea it was […]

Saturday in New York

“Don’t worry. My camera is shockproof and waterproof to fifteen feet”, I told Michaela. And with that, I made my way into the middle of those fountains where the water pops up seemingly randomly. I don’t know if it’s been generally a warm summer for the Northern Hemisphere, or if it’s just the places I’ve […]

Always Running

You know how it is when you wake suddenly in a darkened, unfamiliar room? For about ten or fifteen seconds you have absolutely no idea where you are. “Am I in Rome? Am I in Stockholm? Where am I?”, I thought to myself. And so I stood up and looked out the window, and then […]

We’re In New York

“You need to go around the corner and take the lift. But they might not let you in, because it turns into a club at midnight. So if you can’t get in there, you can always go to the beer garden down below. Or you could try Heifers and Hogs. People used to go there, […]