The Bronx Zoo

Today we’re off to the Bronx. The Bronx Zoo to be specific! It’s the oldest zoo in the country and I checked their website and they’re open all year long. I’ve never been there because it’s a bit of a trip, but that’s what this blog is all about! So let’s go tripping to the Bronx Zoo, the animals will love it if we do!

And down to the subway we go.

And through the miracle of the internet you're spared close to an hour ride to the Bronx. But, from what I've seen online about the Bronx Zoo, it'll be worth the trip. Here's a shot of the Bronx from the subway platform. Let's go hit the street!

The zoo is straight ahead, from what I read online, it's just four blocks from the subway station.

And here we are, the Bronx Zoo! Can't wait to see all the animals and attractions in here!

Here's the map, but I'm terrible with maps...

So let's just hoof it down the trail and see what we find. Wednesday's you can pay whatever you want to get in and the person at the box office suggested a special $9.95 ticket that gives you access to everything. I could've been an asshole and just paid a buck, but ten bucks to see everything is a pretty good deal. I don't mind contributing to help the zoo out.

Look, the first animal of the day! Some kind of exotic bird roaming around on his own, cool!

Okay, here we go, Wild Asia...I went to a massage parlor once with that name, but that's a whole different story for another day! There's a monorail down here and a "Jungle World" exhibit, let's check it out!

Huh...doesn't look too wild to me. In fact it's kind of depressing.

No wonder, it's fucking closed. No happy ending at this Wild Asia. Oh well, let's go check out the other exhibits.

Duly noted. The butterfly exhibit wasn't high on my list of priorities, but it still kind of sucks that the first two exhibits are closed.

Jesus fucking Christ on broken crutches! Is anything open in this fucking place? I'm starting to feel like Clark Griswold at Wally World!

And there's that fucking bird again. Is he the only goddamned animal in this fucking dump?

So far the only thing open on my trip is this: The Mouse House. Mice on display at a zoo? You've got to fucking be kidding me! If I wanted to see mice, I could've just stayed home and put out a block of Velveeta on the floor.

FUCK YOU!

Of course it is...the only thing open is that goddamned House of Rodents!

Oh, now you tell me! Hey Bronx Zoo, maybe you should move that to the fucking entrance so people don't get conned into paying ten bucks to see some shithole exhibit that would only interest some asshole who works for Orkin Pest Control! Motherfucker, what a horrible day this turned out to be!

At least the Cafe's open, I am starving...I could really use a beer or seven, but the way my luck's gone today, I don't have high hopes.

It kind of looks like a movie concession stand. I'd say the odds of getting a beer in here are somewhere between few and far between. Oh well, I see they have pizza, let's go order. It'll beat looking at mice.

Holy shitballs, look at what this angel of mercy has in her hands...a 16 ounce bottle of Budweiser! Maybe the day isn't totally shot after all!

These nice people were next to me in line and got a kick out of the fact I was so excited about the beer. They're in town from Gainesville, Florida and were in town for the Westminster Dog Show.

Here's the dining area, the most people I've seen all day. Nice to know I'm not the only one that got suckered at the front gate.

Ah, pizza and beer, things are definitely looking better!

Okay, five beers later, the pizza is gone and the laptop is out. I always love to see monkeys at the zoo, so let's find some on the internet...hey, how'd that get on my screen?

Whoops, wrong Monkees...

There we go, the day wasn't a total loss after all! Okay, I'm going to get another beer, see you tomorrow!

Further Reading: Bronx Zoo, New York Magazine and Lonely Planet.

Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently,
What a gas!
You gotta come and see at the zoo!

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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P.S. A Note About Commenting

A few people have had trouble commenting. Two things: If a captcha comes up and you have to type in letters, that means the hosting site thinks you're spam for some reason and it will go up as soon as I release it. I'm trying to get them to stop doing this. Once in a blue moon a comment just won't show up, it'll say at the bottom of the post, "Unable to post." This is a bug that happens once in a while. If this happens, the best thing to do is to clear your cache and/or restart your computer, it should go through fine then. Hopefully you won't have any problems and I appreciate the comments, it really adds a fun dimension to the blog!



Cup & Saucer

I first heard about this old school diner/luncheonette called, “Cup & Saucer” over at the blog One More Folded Sunset, and I keep meaning to go, because who knows how long it will survive. Hopefully it will be there forever, but you never know in this day and age when it might morph into something horrible, like a Subway “sandwich” shop. Today, I thought I’d go to Canal Street and take some photos as I wander down towards the Cup & Saucer and then get something to eat at that vintage luncheonette. So here we go!

Okay, as Danny the Freelancer pointed out in last Sunday's post, I hit the Powerball on my ticket, so I thought I'd cash it in before we go. It's worth four bucks.

But instead of cash, I rolled it over into four numbers for tonight's Mega-Millions from my Lottery-selling friend down the street. It's up to 51 million bucks, I'll check it later today, tomorrow's post could be pretty wild if the numbers come in!

A couple were in Union Square offering up free hugs...

So I hugged it out, bitches! Free Lotto tickets and hugs, so far everything's going my way today!

Okay, it was an uneventful subway ride and here we are at Canal Street.

Canal Street is crowded as we make our way to Cup & Saucer.

I love the Chinese neon in Chinatown.

Aaaahhh! There's no escape!

Someone alert RuPaul, it's the Year of Drag!

And here we are at the Cup & Saucer. It doesn't get much more old-school than this!

What a great sign! It practically screams out: "Fuck you, Subway!"

The luncheonette is a narrow, shotgun space with a counter and stools on one side...

With small seating areas looking out at the street on the opposite side. Nice and cozy in here.

The menus hang overhead, behind the counter.

Here's John, who runs the show in here. A nice and hardworking fellow.

And here's a couple of the guys assembling and cooking food. Opera snippets are being sung by the closest fellow and it gives the place a festive feeling.

This gentlemen was busy too, but paused to give a smile to the TWM (thanks DD!) camera!

Okay, I'm starvin' like Marvin over here, time to check the menu!

I was tempted to get the pancakes or French toast...

But I try to eat pretty healthy through the week to make up for all the junk I throw down over the weekend! I got coleslaw and a chicken Caesar wrap with a pickle. It was delicious! And nutritious!

Hey...wait a second...are you seeing what I'm seeing? A CBBM mutation has invaded this blog now! There's no escape! Aaahhhh!

Further Reading: One More Folded Sunset, EV Grieve and Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York.

Gonna use my fingers,
Gonna use my, my, my imagination.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Photo From Danny the Freelancer!

Danny the Freelancer sent in the photo below, which to me looks like either a really tiny man with a guitar  or a giganzo guitar with a man. Here's what Danny said in his email: "I took this, this past summer on 41st and 7th Ave. The biggest Flying V I have ever seen and it sounded great!" Thanks for the photo, Danny, very cool!

John Lennon Walking Tour

Al Rizo, the man who was my co-pilot on the 365 Bars blog, gave me an idea about doing a post of going to John Lennon places in New York, back when I was doing MAD. I already had the idea for this blog when he told me, so I told him it would be better suited for this blog, since I could do it in the afternoon, as well as evening. And today’s the day. Here we go off on a John Lennon walking tour of New York City. Can you imagine?

Here's the apartment that John and Yoko first moved into when they first moved here in 1971, 105 Bank Street in Greenwich Village. This is when he was at the most political phase of his life and his neighbors on the block included Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.

321 W. 44th Street is where John Lennon recorded many tunes when it was the Record Plant. Now it's the office for the New York Observer. They wrote about me back in my pre-blogging days.

Smith's Bar is down at the end of the block and I've read that John Lennon would come in here for a burger and a beer during a break in recording. I only eat a burger on Saturdays, but I could stand to take a beer break, so let's go inside.

Smith's used to be a pretty rough dive bar, but it's been cleaned up just like the rest of Times Square.

John Lennon, this Bud's for you! And thanks to the New York Observer for the free paper from the lobby.

I'm heading to the Upper West Side and believe it or not, this guy is singing a John Lennon song in the subway. Well, actually it's a Beatles song, but one that Lennon wrote, "In My Life." This deserves a tip!

And when I go to throw a couple bucks in his case, look who's staring back at me! Crazy!

At first glance, this looks like a normal drug store, why would this be on a John Lennon Walking Tour, you wonder?

Because this photo is in the corner of the front window.

Along with this message and tribute to John Lennon.

Inside the pharmacy, there's a collage of some of the famous faces who have shopped and stopped in here.

In the center of it all, is a classic photo of John Lennon shot by photographer Bob Gruen.

This is the owner of the West Side Pharmacy, Dr. Said Saber. John Lennon lived a few blocks away at the Dakota and stopped in here frequently and the two of them became good friends. You can see Said talk about this below, in the "Further Reading and Viewing" section. Note the photo to the right of Said, it's him with another famous singer, James Taylor.

Here's Strawberry Fields in Central Park, an area in the park dedicated to John Lennon. Let me take you down...

Usually there's some yahoo massacring a Beatles and/or John Lennon tune in here, but there's not that many people here today, so thankfully it's yahoo free. Yahoo!

Here's the centerpiece in Strawberry Fields, a mosaic "Imagine" art piece. This guy is placing some flowers on it.

Adding the apple was a nice touch, especially if a homeless person wanders by. Free lunch!

As you walk out of Strawberry Fields, you can see the massive Dakota building, where John Lennon lived for his last seven years in New York City. This is also the building they shot the movie, Rosemary's Baby in.

Here's the front gates to the building...

And here's the spot where John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman. Okay, this is getting a little depressing, time for a drink!

Malchy's is a great neighborhood bar that's been on the block forever. I came here on my 365 Bars tour and I think it's time to check it out again!

It's still the same. This is one of those joints that time never seems to touch!

I was hoping to see bartender/author, Dorian Yeager, who we met on the 365 bar crawl, but it turns out she only works weekends. I'll have to revisit this place for a Saturday Night Cheeseburger soon! Working the bar today was Anna and Billy, two fine and friendly people! I had heard that John Lennon used to stop in here occasionally and Billy said in addition to him, Ray Davies of the Kinks used to be a regular when he lived on this block and whenever he plays in town, he stops here afterwards. I'll have to come here next time he's in town!

Just like Rudy's, vintage lamps swing over and illuminate the bar in here.

There's photos and posters on the wall opposite the bar, hey, what's that...

It's the Fabulous Four on the wall! Okay, that seems to be the appropriate place to end this tour and settle in at the bar for a few beers.

And as I leave, night has fallen on the Upper West Side. I love it when that happens!

Further Reading and Viewing: CBS New York, New York Magazine and YouTube.

Up come a man with a guitar in his hand,
Singing, have a marijuana if you can,
His name was David Peel,
And we found that he was real.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

Thanks to Al Rizo, for suggesting this idea, it was a ton of fun!

Al illustration by "Boris."

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Bonus David Peel Photo!
Here’s a photo of David Peel, the longtime Lower East Side resident immortalized in John Lennon’s song, “New York City," flanked by Shawn Chittle and Yours Fooly from last summer. I was going out to Coney Island with my friend Shawn and Shawn saw him in the subway station at Coney Island. We met and snapped some photos of him. and with him. A very cool moment in time!