Try again: Dad Dancing

Saw this in the back of NYC cab this evening

Xavi would make a good pesky little brother

9+1 Update

Paid-up members of New York Road Runners Club (that's me) can gain guaranteed entry into the following year's NY Marathon through the 9+1 program - that means running in 9 official NYRR fun runs during the year, and volunteering in one. It's not as easy as it sounds. There is not a race every weekend, they sell quickly and there is always the problem of a calendar conflict if you schedule it too far in advance. As of last Tuesday, i was on 4+0 so things were not looking good for the 2013 Marathon. So I had to move fast. The only volunteer opening (which typically last 4-6 hours) before Monica returns was to be a cyclist in the Gay & Lesbian Pride run on Saturday, which i locked in (as a "straight ally"). The only races before the end of July were the NY Giants 5K over at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which the Giants and the Jets share as their home ground. The 9 am start meant catching 6.30 subway) and then this coming Sunday it's another schlep out to Corona Park (near CitiField and the US Open facility) for the Queens 10K. By then however I will be 6+1 and will only need 3 more races before NYE to qualify. The rest of the cycling volunteer crew. My job was to ride ahead and blow a whistle clearing spectators off the course, and then to escort the 2nd placed female in to the finish over the final 1km. So that was fun and started and 8.15 and done by 9.30. At the end, the volunteer captain told us we were awesome. "Cheer New York" cheerleaders performing before the race. An American idol finalist sang the national anthem. "Cheer New York" cheering in the first placed male. Sunday it was over to the Meadowlands to run in the 5km race around the stadium. Started in the parking lot and finished on the goal line inside the stadium so that was also fun. The final 100 yds was running from one goal line to the other. the atmosphere was like the end of the Host City marathon in 2000. the finish line in the end zone of the field - this lard arse completing the course at worse than 10 minutes/km. The astroturf surface is very spongy and weird to run on The Metlife Building in Midtown towering over Grand Central Station

Oh boy, look who's 1! Happy birthday Xavi!

Here's the birthday boy on Bondi Beach with Maxi the other day. We will have a big birthday celebration when you get back to NYC. and here he is at Bronte. He can walk a few steps. and here he is with Sally at Isobel's Confirmation at St Michael's Lane Cove

Hi from Governor's Island

New York has a massive harbor, like Sydney. Maybe not as scenic but still an impressive vast body of water which gets over-shadowed by Manhattan. Governor's Island lies just 800m off Lower Manhattan and is like your Garden Island or Cockatoo Island. it is reachable by a free ferry on weekends during summer. It is shaped like an ice-cream cone. Over there you can walk, go biking, enjoy free art exhibits, performances, acres of green space, and more. I went on a walking tour there on Saturday morning. The ferry departs from the Battery Maritime Building. This is the bunch of losers I went with. "Shore Walkers". Cost $3. View back from GI to Lower Manhattan. It was a lovely sunny morning. The GI brochure says visitors "can enjoy some of the most dramatic and rarely seen views of NYC, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn. These stunning views provide the perfect backdrop for a day's activities on the island". Accurate, i guess. Castle Williams. One of the ring of forts built around the harbor to defend the city during the war of 1812. This strategy was successful - the British were scared off and did not invade NYC by sea. Fort Jay, built in 1794, was also used to house Confederate POW's during the Civil War. Historic buildings on Governor's Island. FYI Reagan and Gorbachev had their final meeting in the 1843 Commanding Officer's Residence in 1988. That's Freedom Tower in the background.

they are on their way downunder

Sorry about the poor quality of the pics, taken with my BlackBerry Bold, 3.2 MP and autofocus - any wonder RTM is going down the gurgler.