what about the plastic animals?

Famous Parking Lots and Friendly People

Birthplace of the American League

Birthplace of the typewriter

Never let it be said that Milwaukeeans are without a dry sense of humor.  Around the corner from each other, and just a block from my hotel are two historic markers. 

Ann, Jeff and I were reading the baseball marker when a Postal Service worker driving a delivery truck stopped for a red light and shouted out to us "That's where the American League was founded.  Not in the parking lot.  There used to be a big hotel there."

A couple days later I saw a historic marker for the invention of the typewriter.  The sign began "At 318 State Street, approximately 300 feet northeast of here..."  I turned around and took a parking lot across the street for being the location of said invention.  As I lifted up my camera a guy going into the Journal Sentinel building said "You must like our parking lots."  I explained the whole typewriter thing and he told me "Oh, you want the parking lot that's in the middle of the block."

Photoless Bonus:  David Blaine was doing magic tricks on the corner of 116th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. this evening.

Breaking News

Even while taking the pictures I knew this photostitch of St. John the Divine wouldn't work.  From across the street the building is too big for the lens I was using.

Was anyone else charmed by the "BREAKING NEWS" spam this weekend?  Contrary to what usually happens, it was my work email account that was largely spared while my gmail account got hit (albeit all of the incoming were automatically shunted to the spam folder).  Here are my favorite in no particular order:

BREAKING NEWS: Pamela Anderson Shouts, "I'm Gonna Remarry My One And Only True Love Tommy!"
BREAKING NEWS: Britney Spears And Michael Jackson To Write Parenting Book
BREAKING NEWS: Home Office To Deport Anyone With IQ Below 100
BREAKING NEWS: John McCain Selects Laura Bush As His Vice President
BREAKING NEWS: Cindy McCain Talks About Her Boobs
BREAKING NEWS: Spongebob Squarepants Not Shrek's Father!
BREAKING NEWS: Jesus Christ To Star In Next Series Of Batman
BREAKING NEWS: Blair: I'm Not Gay, That's Just My Accent
BREAKING NEWS: Bearded Lady Gives Birth
BREAKING NEWS: Theodore Roosevelt Was A Gay Man
BREAKING NEWS: Guy With Big Giant Head Laments Lifetime Of Presumed Super Brilliance
BREAKING NEWS: America's Migrant Workers Embrace 'Leave Your Child at Home Day'
BREAKING NEWS: Cannibal arrested when he tries to eat himself. Police think it is attempted suicide.
BREAKING NEWS: Ethics Committee Makes Ten Commandments Rules Change - Stealing Is Now OK

Parades

I came across two small parades today.  First, while starting out on a bike ride, I saw a mini-parade of a dozen old cars by Harlem Hospital this morning.  The parade was headed by three old police cars.

Much later in the day, I saw a bunch of kids riding their bikes west on 116th Street.  They were followed by a small parade of people shouting Black power slogans.

New York from the Air

Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and Dumbo

Williamsburg Savings Bank

Williamsburg and Manhattan

Shea Stadium, Citi Field and half of Arthur Ashe Stadium

Queens Museum of Art and Unisphere

I lucked out on the flight home by getting a window seat that was clean and not over the wing.  There was haze in the distance but otherwise the sky was clear for picture taking.

Wisconsin State Fair

The Milwaukee trip was mostly work but I had some free time on Sunday afternoon to go to the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis.  The Wisconsin State Fair is about half the size as the Minnesota State Fair, and there are virtually no foods on a stick.  Those shortcomings are countered by the giant cream puffs in the Cream Puff Parlor. 

You get in a long, yet fast-moving, line and watch the cream puffs get assembled.  In the first set of windows opens upon rack after rack of pastry shells.  Two people are kept busy slicing the shells in half.  A third person whisks the cut shells to the filling windows.  There, rows of shells are lovingly filled with freshly whipped heavy cream and topped with the upper half of the pastry.  From there it is on to the sales counter where fairgoers can purchase one for $3.50 or a box of six for $18.   A plastic sheet of ice is also available for purchase if you want to carry the puffs of cream around with you for a while.

We figured out that the best, least messy, way of eating the cream puffs was to first scoop out half the cream with the top of the pastry before tackling the bottom portion.

The New York State Fair begins on the 21st.  As a kid we never went to it, even though it was less than an hour's drive away.  I'll be near Syracuse next weekend.  We'll see how things go.