Herban Gardening

I had a lovely birthday on Monday and spent some time at Urbis, an exhibition centre and multi-purpose space in Manchester. Although I wasn't particularly bothered to see it, I went to their Urban Gardening exhibition and found myself surprisingly turned on over the concept of integrating urban life and nature; incorporating nature into urban life. Interestingly, there were two subjects in the exhibition that also happened to be featured in two of my 'friend-ly blogs' (see right hand column). There was a feature on peregrine falcons in Manchester in both the Urban Gardening show and Mancubist blog; in my brother's blog, Cincy to Seattle, he writes about getting more connected to nature and acknowledging what it provides for us (fuel, food), which is also explored in the exhibition. Check it all out for yourself if you're interested (I'm just planting the seed).

Other Places

What a glorious day this past Sunday was, and our plan for the day matched perfectly the weather to the location. We first headed out to Formby, a town and beach near Liverpool. Now, the downside is, because it's a long walk to finally reach the sea from the shore and once you do, it's a long way until you can submerge into the water, so no one really goes to the sea to swim. The upside is there are no crowds, blankets, beach umbrellas, blaring music and the like as you'd find at let's say Jones Beach. Just an amazing unspoiled coastline with craggy dunes, pine forests and folks strolling along the rippled shoreline (see National Trust photo below) or fishing by the start of the sea.

We then headed over to Crosby beach to see the artist Antony Gormley's installation called Another Place : 100 castings of the artist's body made of cast-iron, scattered about and anchored into the shore line. As I stood by one of the statues, I became contemplative, considering the intermix of man, art and nature. Not a bad day at all.

Only South of 14th Street

We just got back from a trip to NYC to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. Big up to my family and friends - it was fantastic to see you all and I love you! Here are a few photos I took whilst doing the tourist thing (double-click on each one to getter better view).

uplifting words and hand me downs on Second Ave

shop in the Village with trainers for $1000

where am i, on the moon? no, somewhere in Soho

Feel like dancing on Lafayette Street

Quit Whinging America!

Lately, the international versions of US news publications have been all about the rising cost of gasoline, which has reached a whopping $4 a gallon! But wait a minute, let's do the math: the average cost of petrol (gas) in the UK is 1.17 pounds per litre. There are about 4.5 litres to the gallon; approximately 2 dollars to the pound. That works out to be around $10 per gallon, more than double what Americans pay! Not to mention a UK sales tax rate of 17% and an income tax that borders 50%. If America really wants to curb immigration, reduce homelessness and ensure everyone has access to decent health care, why not try a little taxes. If we can handle it here, you can too.

Green Commute

Yeah, I guess you could say my daily commute to work by public transportation is 'good' for the environment, but that's not what I mean by green. One of my favorite things to do on the train ride home from Manchester, about 10 minutes or so from reaching my station stop, is to put down whatever I'm reading, whether it's a book, this week's issue of Time or M.E.N., one of Manchester's daily rags. With conscious intention, I then look up at the window and let all the luscious landscape greenery fill up my eyes and touch my heart. From sheep grazing fields, to horse farms, to cricket pitches, the landscape of the area is rich and beautiful and provides the perfect ending to an otherwise ordinary workday.

Got Talent?

Last night on TV's Britain's Got Talent, there was a terrific performance by a urban teen dance troupe from Birmingham which really wowed the audience. But they absolutely went crazy when Simon Cowell paid the dancers the ultimate compliment. He said their choreography was "as good as anything coming out of America", and that America was the benchmark for hip-hop dance. No ignominy for us, for the moment.

I've touched upon this topic in an earlier post, and have seen it over and over again since moving here... the U.S. is, and can continue to be, the world's hub for creativity and experimentation. No need for world-wide military dominance; America's creative and intellectual output can be a well received positive influence, reaching everywhere.

Americans Abroad

While this isn't a political blog and I have no intention of musing daily about political issues, I did feel good about attending a Democrats Abroad gathering in Manchester the other week. Dems Abroad is the "official Democratic Party organization for some six million American citizens who live outside the United States". This gathering, which they call a "Speakeasy", is really just a chance for the handful of Americans living in the Manchester area to come together and talk politics or just wax nostalgic about home. I dragged Andrew and his son, who's currently studying poly-sci in college, along with me so this added a cool dual-national dimension. It makes for more interesting conversation plus I just love to mix it up! As for the election, I'm excited for the changes coming and look forward to voting in November by absentee ballot from the UK!