A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Here is a sampling of some of the random things that I have encountered on my way back and forth to work in the last few weeks:

- I have been nearly run over by a taxi (twice) and other regular passenger vehicles (too many times to count).

- Saw a very proper woman, seated primly with erect posture on a scooter buzzing up Broadway – not so unusual except she was wearing a fairly formal gown. And an equestrian hat as a helmet.

- P Diddy (just once) and P Diddy’s Maybach (at least once every two weeks or so).

- Dead cockroaches on the street (better than live ones, I guess).

- Many rats roaming around, especially in the construction zone in front of my building (and they are FAR from dead).

- Saw Rupert from the Hello Deli.

- A guy unzipping to pee against a building in broad daylight. Buddy, you are NOT a Golden Retriever out for a walk.

- And some poor deluded soul actually asked me for my autograph one morning.

Turning Japonais, I Really Think So

I admit it, I'm feeling a little fuzzy today. I really didn't have that much to drink last night, but I didn't arrive back at my apartment until about 4:30 am, and then for some unfathomable reason, I woke up at precisely 7:30 am. Ugh. Are you KIDDING me? I did manage to fall back to sleep for another hour and a half or so, but I mean, come on -- just over four hours of sleep doesn't cut it.

Yesterday was a sort of fun serendipitous kind of day. It turned out that both PJ and friends Josh and Robin were going to be in New York (from SoCal) on the same weekend. PJ was here to meet a friend for a Rage Against the Machine concert tonight and Josh and Robin were each here for separate business trips and decided to extend those commitments into a bit of a vacation.

After PJ and I visited Niketown to buy him some new runners and grabbed a drink and a snack at favourite Irish pub, McGee's, we all met up for dinner at Japonais, down in Gramercy. Japonais has a very cool, urban vibe and was jammed full of NY hipsters -- and for good reason... aside from the great ambiance, the foold was incredible. We ordered "the Rock", an appetizer where you cook your own thinly sliced pieces of beef on a scalding rock (there's a really similar dish at Megu), and an array of rolls, sushi and sashimi. My roll (the "Tuna Tuna Salmon roll") was so good on its own that I barely even needed soy sauce.

After dinner, Robin hooked us up with bottle service at Duvet. If any of you remember an episode from "Sex & the City" where the fabulous four go out to a club called "Bed", then you know exactly what Duvet looks like because apparently that's where that particular episode of "Sex" was filmed.

There are literally beds arranged around the dance floor, complete with crisp white sheets, tons of comfy pillows and the suggestion of curtains at each corner as if it were a showroom of four post canopy beds. Apparently bottle service for a bed starts at $1200. Yikes.

We danced a little, but mostly we got such a kick out of watching the goings-on. Groups of (generally) girls who were in full-on party mode at 1:00 am, were dropping like flies by the time 3:00 and 3:30 rolled around. It was interesting to watch the progression as fatigue set in and effects of alcohol (and goodness knows what else) wore off. One girl popped right out of her dress on the dance floor -- too bad she had her back to her dance partner at the time, he missed the whole thing! (I'm sure he got to see MUCH more than that, however, as the night evolved!)

The craziest thing about Duvet though was the bathrooms. There's a single unisex bathroom. Think "Ally McBeal", but with bass-heavy custom-spun DJ tunes pumping through the vents, a large black bouncer-looking man handing out paper towels after you wash your hands and a giant circular stainless steel sink in the middle of the room with mutiple faucets and soap dispensers. (Sort of a combination of that one bathroom in the Harry Potter movies and a barnyard trough. Seriously, I kinda felt like a cow, mosying up to the farm water trough.)

But the most disconcerting thing about the bathrooms was that the doors of the stalls were made with one-way glass, so even though you know no one can see in (after all, you couldn't see in when you were outside waiting your turn), once you're in a stall, you can't help but feel like everyone at the giant sink is watching you do what comes naturally. Maybe the more you drink, the less you care?

A Little to the Left, Please

Before last week, here's something I'd never done at work before: get a massage.

Well, on Friday, I was able to check that off the list. Our building has a gorgeous, state-of-the-art fitness center (with views of Central Park, thank you very much) and they also offer massage services.

I woke up last Sunday morning with something pinched in my upper back and as the week wore on, it was not working itself out. Oda reminded me that the gym offers massage services and so I successfully managed to get an appointment at lunchtime on Friday.

Can I just say that we should all get massages EVERY day at work??

Betsy, my massage therapist, listened intently as I described the pain in my back and then immediately said, "You work on a computer all day, you're right-handed, you cradle the phone between your ear and your shoulder when you talk and you carry your [too heavy] handbag on your right side." Wow, impressive.

Betsy set to work on my back, neck and shoulders and by the end of my 50-minute session, I felt amazing. I have a feeling Betsy may be seeing a lot more of me.

Oh Those Summer Nights

New York is hopping all summer long. There are all the regular things you can do all year round (like the theatre, concerts etc), but summer brings with it a whole layer of free (and usually outdoor) cultural events that are just there for the taking... and enjoying.

There are concerts on various stages in Central Park, free movies in Bryant Park and at a couple of piers along the Hudson, the Good Morning America concert series, the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival... the list goes on and on.

Nick, Reny, Cassandra and I planned to meet up last Wednesday night in Central Park at the Naumburg Bandshell. This is the 102nd anniversary season of free Naumburg Orchestral Concerts and on Wednesday night, they were featuring the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Unfortunately, we misjudged our timing and by the time we all converged on the Bandshell and found each other, the concert was practically over. It's a beautiful venue for an outdoor concert, however, and we're definitely planning on returning (earlier next time!).

To make the most of the evening that was left, we wandered over to the Sheep Meadow Cafe and wiled away a couple of hours with to-die-for desserts, great conversation and laughs, and a satisfying sense of having successfully stolen some precious peaceful moments in the park on a perfectly still summer night, with the city's constant buzz seeming miles and miles away.

Good for the Soul, Hard on the Soles

No doubt about it, New York is hard on shoes.

I walk back and forth to work most days and I also put on a bunch of miles on the weekends, cruising around the city by foot.

The results (so far):

-- three pairs of worn out soles (including the cute little ballet flats I just bought at the beginning of summer)

-- two broken heels (and counting, I'm sure)

-- a few blisters on various toes

-- scuffed toes and heels from broken concrete and pavement on the sidewalks and streets

-- salt stains from slogging through snow drifts in the winter

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it hardly seems worth it to invest in shoes in this city because they get trashed so easily.

(Don't worry -- I'm sure I will have recovered to my full shoe-shopping self by the time the weekend rolls around.)

A Yankee Virgin No More

Yesterday, I completed an important rite of passage as a new New Yorker -- I made the pilgrimage on the D train out to the Bronx for my very first live Yankees game (the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were in town). Heidi, Mike and I met at Columbus Circle, hopped on the train and met up with Jake and Ron in front of Stan's, right across from Yankee Stadium. After loading up with hotdogs, pretzels, beer and sodas, we climbed up to our seats (top tier, along the first base line) and settled in for what turned out to be a pretty good game. The Yankees redeemed themselves from a 14 - 4 loss the night before and pulled out a 7 -3 win, including a pretty exciting home run from Shelley Duncan, a rookie in his second ever major league game.

Even though we didn't get there early enough to visit Monument Park, we could see it from our seats -- it's located behind the outfield fence and contains monuments of former Yankee greats (think Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio) and dedications to all the Yankee retired uniform numbers. Now that I know you can visit right before a game, I'll go earlier next time, armed with my trusty camera.

After the game, we decided to wait out the subway rush and we popped into the Ball Park Sports Bar & Grill -- it's a bar, souvenir shop and a bowling alley all wrapped into one. Yes, a bowling alley. For a fleeting moment, we considered going bowling, but with a scrunched nose, I declined since I didn't have any socks and there was NO way I was about to jam my bare feet into random bowling shoes with goodness knows WHAT having been in them previously. Ever the gentleman, Jake offered to loan me his socks, but for obvious reasons, that wasn't a much more appealing option.

We made lots of new friends in the Ball Park bar -- Yankee fans are a back-slapping, boisterous, friendly bunch (especially after a decisive win). With a good beer buzz going, Ron assigned us all alter egos, and before we knew it, people thought I was a Canadian TV news anchor, Mike was a professional fly fisherman, Heidi was retired gymnast and Jake was a professional surfer (and Ron, of course, was Jake's agent). We delicately extricated ourselves from the onslaught of questions we had no hope of answering (Mike has NEVER fly fished and was accosted by an avid fishing enthusiast from Wisconsin) when Ron announced to Jake that we were going to be late for his Quiksilver appearance and it was time to head back to the city. Whew.

Back in the city, we went to Stout's for some grub and darts -- and even after a couple of drinks, I managed to hit a bulls' eye! (Or maybe, more appropriately, it was BECAUSE of the drinks.)

Fantasy Hair? No Thanks!!

Guess WHAT. The Dove viral video that I shot in LA is finally LIVE! I saw it for the first time tonight at a meeting related to this project and so I immediately came home to see if it was actually posted on the Dove Love Your Hair web site... and lo and behold, there it was! And there I was... with Damian and Joseph.... and with fun, funky music, and with a pretty fried 'do by the end of it all! Check it out for yourself. Proof that the shoot really did happen!!

A Drowsy Afternoon

Here's what I love about New York -- you can literally walk out of your apartment on a weekend, not having any specific plans, and yet you can find enough to keep you busy all day.

Today, I thought I was headed over towards Bryant Park and Grand Central, and if my feet agreed, I was going to continuing walking way over to the east side to the United Nations building. On the way, I figured I would walk down 46th and see what exactly was in the block called "Little Brazil".

Well, now that the TKTS booth is actually part of the Marriott Marquis, I had to walk right by it since it faces 46th. It was just about 2:00 pm and so, of course, I had to stop and check out the board and see what tickets were still left. I ended up grabbing a ticket to see The Drowsy Chaperone and just like that, Bryant Park and the UN were completely forgotten and set aside for another day.

The Drowsy Chaperone is pretty good. The premise is clever -- it's a 1920's style musical, narrated by a current day musical-loving man who lives his lonely life in a drab NY studio apartment. He invites the audience to enjoy one of his favourite shows when he brings out the original recording LP of something called The Drowsy Chaperone, dusts it off for the turn table and begins to pull us into the world of fictional broadway stars and their histories . There are many LOL moments and our narrator (simply called "Man in Chair") is the glue that holds it all together -- he is insightful, funny, ingratiating and throughout the show, he reveals many layers of what turns out to be a pretty robust personality.

A perfect way to wile away a couple of hours on a drowsy Sunday afternoon.

May We Never Forget

Yesterday, I jumped on the 1 Train and headed downtown, all the way to Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center. Even six years later, it is still a shock to see the twin towers missing, massive and impressive structures that distinctly punctuated the Manhattan skyline for so long. The last time I visited Ground Zero was probably 3 years ago and at that time, I remember it being a very eerie experience. There was a grim and somber air about the area that commanded silence, even from the most fidgety, unruly and noisy of children. Even without specific knowledge about what had happened here, they still could sense the heaviness of the meaning of this now empty space.

Now, it stills brings tears to your eyes just to stand there and be reminded of the world-altering tragedy that occurred on that site, but there is more of a sense of renewal and rebuilding than there was before. It looks very much like a typical construction zone, preparing for the development of the new Freedom Tower.

Right across the street is the FDNY's Ten House, the home of both FDNY Ladder Company 10 and FDNY Engine Company 10. This firehouse was only mere blocks away from the WTC and was not only heavily damaged during the September 11 attacks, but the company also lost six firefighters.

Now Ten House is back to a functioning facility, but it's also been opened up to the public and firefighters are on hand to answer questions, talk about the memorial wall that's built inside, take pictures, and of course, sell FDNY calendars. In a glass case on the wall, there is a green and white "Liberty St" street sign, its metal twisted and mangled from the impact of the events of September 11, 2001.

Around the corner, the FDNY Memorial Wall reminds us of all 343 firefighters who died trying to save and protect New Yorkers on September 11. A huge bronze bas relief, it is inscribed with the words "Dedicated to those who fell and to those who carry on. May we never forget." At the bottom of the wall, there were flowers and momentos strewn across the sidewalk, in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice.

I overheard a mother reading some of the incription to her young son, explaining what it all meant and it made me sad to think that such young, innocent and smiling children even need to know what evil exists in the world. Thank goodness for sunglasses -- my tears remained my own.

Dove Girl -- It's Official!

So, my random series of photo and video shoots over the past few weeks are starting to emerge as final products... I think I might officially be a Dove Girl now! Just this week, Dove released their new hair care web site which features a short video intro featuring yours truly with two other women (yes, we are a strategically constructed trio including a brunette, a blond and a redhead). There's a lot of laughing, smiling and hair-flipping going on. Hey, it's a hair ad -- whaddaya want?

I didn't even know this was live online yet until Jesse, Maia and Kristy ambushed me when I returned back to our office from a meeting late one afternoon this past week. "Hey, that video is live! We watched it! You're, like, RIGHT THERE!"

I have to admit, it's pretty weird to see this live... it kind of feels like the shoots never even happened. But they did... here's the evidence.... more evidence coming soon!

Calling all Direct Marketers -- Please Learn to Target

I have friends with kids. Little kids. Little kids for whom I buy Christmas gifts. And this past holiday season, because I live across the country from the kids to whom I play "Auntie Shari", I ordered a lot of gifts online and had them shipped.

You know where this is going, right?

Yes, exactly. Now, I am INUNDATED with catalogues from all kinds of kids' stores.... everything from Hanna Andersson to Land of Nod to Land's End kids to PB Teen. I am caught in the ugly vortex of list brokering.

But, I mean, COME ON, marketing people! Can't you tell that when I placed my order, I had it shipped to an address other than my own AND I asked for it to be gift-wrapped?? Stop sending the kids' catalogues to ME. I am clearly not the one with a kid. I am the worst kind of customer -- completely unprofitable. You can send me catalogues all year long and I'll never buy a thing.

This is just like the time I kept getting all kinds of "Congratulations, you're a new mom!!" kinds of junk mail simply because one of my friends used my address to get another free sample of some baby widget or other. I had samples of Enflac showing up for months.

Mystery Trip

So, my phone (ie. my land line in my apartment) rang just after 7:00 this morning. I was still wandering around with a towel wrapped around my head, having freshly emerged from the shower. At first, I thought it must be Special K calling since he had to get up at some ungodly hour on the west coast in order to catch a flight. But no, the line that's ringing is the line from the concierge/doorman desk downstairs.

"Hey, Nigel", I answer.

"Hello, Miss Gunn. How are you today?"

Small talk at 7:00 am, Nigel?

"Fine, Nigel. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that your car is here."

"My car?" My own mental wheels are spinning.

"Yes, you have a car booked at 7:15 taking you to LaGuardia, right?"

"Um, not that I know of." I'm still wracking my brain trying to figure out if I actually FORGOT about a trip I'm supposed to be on. (C'mon, could happen!)

"Oh, I'm sorry -- they must have made a mistake. I'll let them know." And we hang up.

Very random, I think, as I pour myself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of juice. But like a goldfish with a five second attention span, the incident immediately flits from my brain, and now I'm wrapped up in a mental dance about what am I going to wear on yet another hot sweaty city day. And then my cell phone rings about 5 minutes later.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, this is the Lickety Split Car Service. Is this the Gunn party?" (Ok, so Lickety Split is not actually their real name... but it should be.)

"Well, it's 7:15 in the morning now... the party actually ended a couple of hours ago."

Ok, not so funny.

"Ma'am, did you book a car for the LaGuardia airport this morning?" Ugh, he just called me ma'am.

"No, actually I didn't -- I'm really sorry, but there must be some mistake. I'm really not sure how this happened. I did use your service twice last week for another trip, but that was drop off and pick up at Kennedy."

"Ok, well, thank you, ma'am (there it is AGAIN)... I'm sure we'll figure it out. Sorry to bother you."

"Wait, one more thing... do you know where I was allegedly supposed to be going once I got to LaGuardia? Anywhere interesting?"

Click.

Guess I won't be calling Lickety Split for a while.

Nerd Humour

So, this post really has nothing to do with New York per se, except for the fact that the t-shirt I saw which prompted this post was on the body of some random New Yorker walking down the street today. Funniest t-shirt slogan I've seen in a long time:

"Talk Nerdy to Me!"

(accompanied by a line drawing of a computer, natch!)

I Made It!

I am now safe and sound in Southern California. In fact, my flight was even 10 minutes EARLY. Sweet. My major obstacle in getting to the airport this time were all the extra vehicle inspection points out at JFK itself. With the recent activity in the UK (and especially the Glasgow incident), the authorities are inspecting all vehicles on their way into the airport and that adds extra time to the commute.

The worst thing that happened on the flight was that one of the members of the particularly loud and obnoxious family sitting directly behind me decided that it was ok for him to take off his shoes and proceed to rest his dirty, grubby sock-glad dogs ON MY ARM REST. I was blissfully unaware until I happened to actually try to use the armrest for, god forbid, MY ARM, and I bumped something with my elbow. (I was sitting on the aisle.) When I turned to see what I bumped, I think I made an audible "UGH" when I saw the offending sock (complete with dirty toe marks) uncomfortably part of my own personal space. That was the LAST time said fellow passenger infringed on my approximately 12 cubic feet of space in that 737.

Happy (belated) Fourth to all my Americans! Had a wonderful holiday with Special K, including being lucky enough to see one of the few fireworks displays actually allowed in the area this year. (There were a lot of restrictions this year because it's as dry as a tinderbox here.)

Wish Me Luck

Tomorrow morning, I embark on an adventure challenging and frightening enough to make even the most hardened New Yorkers take pause and reconsider their intentions. But I will grit my teeth, and with steely determination, I will do it... I will make my way across the city and through Queens to the John F Kennedy airport.

The journey is fraught with obstacles, some predictable and others wildly unexpected. My town car driver and I will be a wily pair of adventurers, negotiating traffic jams, random parades and demonstrations, accidents and the lot. We may even have to exit the Van Wyck Expressway and stealthily weave our way through unsuspecting suburban neighbourhoods in order to get there in time for me to catch my flight.

And once I arrive, that is just the first step. That's right, safe arrival at JFK does not guarantee success. Next I am at the mercy of the weather (not just here, but on the west coast, too), the assumption that the pilot and crew will actually show up for work that day and the fact that the blue-clad maintenance team is on top of their game and have made sure that the plane that will propel me and 200 other passengers is ready to go on yet another cross-country flight. Not to mention that security is, of course, on heightened alert given recent events both here and across the pond.

You may breezily assume that air travel is easy-peasy. I, with my recent history of missed and canceled flights, beg to differ.

Top of the Tower

My team hosted a party on Thursday night for our ad agencies and clients in the NY area and I’m proud to say it was a great success. (The only downside was that I missed a big Canada Day party downtown where there was rumoured to be Molson’s, Labatt’s, poutine and all Canadian tunes all night – fellow Canadian, Mike, went and reported back that it was indeed a pretty fun time – how could it NOT be with that many Canucks all in one place??)

But back to the party that I actually attended. We had about 150 guests in our VIP event space on our 44th floor. The party’s theme was “Summer Start-Up” and it was to jointly kick off the summer and to celebrate the re-launch of a dozen of our web sites.

A fun time was had by all and the views are spectacular… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves... The first one is a view to the northeast (that's the corner of Central Park) looking at the Upper East Side. The second one is looking south down 8th Avenue.

Happy Canada Day, Eh!

For all you friends and family north of the 49th, Happy Canada Day!! One year ago today, Special K and I were in Vancouver and we accidentally stumbled into a situation where patrons were wearing t-shirts that proclaimed “Happy Cannabis Day!”, but that’s another story for another time.

So as a tribute to all that makes us unique in the world, here’s a list I’ve cobbled together from various places on the internet and from the recesses of my own brain:

You know you’re Canadian When:

- You know that “Jagged Little Pill” was not Alanis Morissette’s first CD.

- You know all the words to "If I had a Million Dollars" by The Barenaked Ladies, including the inter-stanza banter between Steven and Ed.

- You brag that Santa Claus lives in Canada and you know that his postal code is HOH OHO.

- You dismiss all beers under 6% as "for children and the elderly."

- You can sing "O Canada" in French and actually know what the words mean!

- You use a red pen on your non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, and color.

- You know the French equivalents of "free," "prize" and "no sugar added," thanks to your extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging.

- You still haven't taken down your "NON" posters from the 95 Referendum.

- You wished that Relic's boat would get crushed to bits by one of those logs.

- You understand the sentence "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my bowl of poutine."

- You eat chocolate bars instead of candy bars. (Coffee Crisp, Aero and Mr. Big to name a few.)

- You know what a 1-2 and a 2-4 are (and you probably learned when you were still in high school!)

- You're not sure if the leader of your nation has EVER had sex and you don't WANT to know if he has!

- You know that Mounties "don't always look like that."

- You know that Casey and Finnegan are not a Celtic musical group.

- You know what Kraft Dinner and Kraft Singles are.

- Your municipality buys a zamboni before a bus.

- You pronounce the last letter of the alphabet "zed" instead of "zee."

- You read rather than scanned this list.