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c'mon · ed lin · GRNY · new york · News · nyc · sandy ·

Hurricane Sandy and Midtown Manhattan

Grand Central Station, one of the busiest terminals in the world, is locked and completely empty. Sandy hammered New York City Monday night. Midtown Manhattan was spared of the worst. We don’t have flooding like other parts of the city, but 39th Street has emerged as the dividing line of the have and have-nots. Of electricity that is. I’m straddling both worlds because while I don’t have power at home, I do at work! Here are some pics from my morning commute. A loss of power doesn’t stop the Korean greengrocer from staying open while nearly all chain groceries and drug stores are closed.   One of my favorite burger joints remains closed, but they prepared as most other businesses did by boarding up the doors and laying down plastic to prevent flooding into the below-the-street storage.   As a former Cub Scout, I know that in the case of rain (or record hurricanes), the flag should be taken down and stored inside. C’mon, closed post-office people!   This Sanitation Dept. big gun is probably headed to the Lower East Side, parts of which are under a few feet of water. Wonder what kind of shape the old GRNY space is in!   Not only are our bus lines down, but so are some of the bus signs! Even though the MTA has suspended trains and buses, cars are still assiduously avoiding the bus lanes even though I doubt they’d be fined at this point.   No days off for Asians! Most countries have closed their consulates for the day — not the Philippines! The guy’s stepped out for a moment, though.
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3/11 · bike · harley davidson · japan · motorcycle · News · tsunami ·

Tsunami Harley Davidson is Now on Display

The Harley Davidson motorcycle that went across the Pacific in a storage container via the Tsunami in Japan, is now on display at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI. (LA Times – Tsunami Harley) We previously wrote about the finding of the bike and what Harley Davidson was intending to do with it. Glad they got it all done quickly. (GR – HD)
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converge · echoplex · Music · MW · News · torche ·

Show review: Converge and Torche at The Echoplex

Crap. I arrived at The Echoplex at 9:15, just as Nails was breaking down. That’s too early, right? Man, I really wanted to see them. Kvelertak, too.

But I did get to see Torche for the first time since they toured with Boris, and the Florida band’s brand of sludgy pop gets better and better. For Halloween, they should totally be the powerful yet skilled post-Gretzy Oilers with Paul Coffey on bass, Mess on guitar, and Grant Fuhr on lead guitar and vocals. Can’t quite identify who the drummer would be, but possibly a Charlie Huddy type holding it down. The band balances bone-crushing mega riffs and lightning-fast and nimble fingers to meld the heaviest of grooves with the catchiest of melodies. What a bitchin’ live band. If the stage lighting was better I would have taken a lot more pics, but sometimes it’s nice to just rock out in front, anyway.

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china · japan · News · theme park · themepark · war ·

Japan Invades China Theme Park – Defend!

Oh my… for Japanese in China, this might help. Instead of killing you, folks can go to a theme park, and pretend they’re killing you. Meanwhile, you can remain in hiding or say you’re Korean. Re-enact the taking of a village or defending against having your sister taken away as a comfort woman. At 80 million to make, it was probably a quick build. This is the perfect time to capitalize on the border dispute with Japan. Chinese business people can be amazing. (The Atlantic – Japan VS China themepark)
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