New York March NYC Meet-Up

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Calzone

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Next month is upon us. What Sunday date shall we have it?

I just put in an application for an expedited Passport. Sometime in April I'll be going to Mad-Rid. A luxury hotel that use to be some palace for a Spanish Prince is where we will be staying. Pretty much too much luxury to the extent I will likely feel uncomfortable. Of course First Class flying.

This is a Maggie gig to promote this luxury hotel. Fancy dinners included so I have to be cleaned up, none of my slouchy street/ghetto clothes. LOL. Last excursion included the opera, but it ended up going backstage for a VIP tour of the set and costume design. Maggie went with her brother as the "plus-one" because I'm not a jet setter. I think the opera behind the scenes was a missed opportunity.

Likely when they will be shooting I'll be on my own. This will be great for me. So this trip to Spain will happen sometime in April.

Then there is another gig that is "Plus-One" to Iceland in July. July is so busy for Maggie that I might only see her in Iceland that month.

Not sure I like being caught up in the VIP treatments. I kinda know I'm not so special. LOL. For the most part I don't need the extra attention as I generally draw enough even slouched out. One time when I got bumped up to first class, I found it annoying having the flight attendant hovering over me. I had to tell her to relax and leave me alone.

Looks like I'll have to be polite because I'm a guest. Oh-well.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
Next month is upon us. What Sunday date shall we have it?

I just put in an application for an expedited Passport. Sometime in April I'll be going to Mad-Rid. A luxury hotel that use to be some palace for a Spanish Prince is where we will be staying. Pretty much too much luxury to the extent I will likely feel uncomfortable. Of course First Class flying.

This is a Maggie gig to promote this luxury hotel. Fancy dinners included so I have to be cleaned up, none of my slouchy street/ghetto clothes. LOL. Last excursion included the opera, but it ended up going backstage for a VIP tour of the set and costume design. Maggie went with her brother as the "plus-one" because I'm not a jet setter. I think the opera behind the scenes was a missed opportunity.

Likely when they will be shooting I'll be on my own. This will be great for me. So this trip to Spain will happen sometime in April.

Then there is another gig that is "Plus-One" to Iceland in July. July is so busy for Maggie that I might only see her in Iceland that month.



Not sure I like being caught up in the VIP treatments. I kinda know I'm not so special. LOL. For the most part I don't need the extra attention as I generally draw enough even slouched out. One time when I got bumped up to first class, I found it annoying having the flight attendant hovering over me. I had to tell her to relax and leave me alone.

Looks like I'll have to be polite because I'm a guest. Oh-well.

Cal
Click to expand...

Don't you need a assistant to hold all your equipment stuff!
 
Range-rover said:
Don't you need a assistant to hold all your equipment stuff!
Click to expand...

Bob,

Don't tell anyone, but in real life I'm a one man-band. Part photographer- part clothing rack, plus most times I'm holding what every photographer needs when taking a shot: a woman's pocketbook.

Also know that models are impatient, and this model in particular because she has a PhD does not listen to directions.

Anyways these difficulties have made me into a better photographer. Despite being a clothing and shoe rack and pocketbook holder, somehow I still get the shot.

These "Plus-One" gigs are really like being a male escort. I'm just her one man entourage. LOL. Pretty much just a decoration. Pretty much this is how it is on the street when one of her followers sees her.

Cal
 
Cal, while in Madrid, swing by the Reina Sofia Museum.
My ritual whenever I'm there, walk in, take a look at Picasso's Guernica, walk out.
Might be that I'm spanish and has a higher significance for me, but I never get tired of seeing that painting while I'm there.
 
finguanzo said:
Cal, while in Madrid, swing by the Reina Sofia Museum.
My ritual whenever I'm there, walk in, take a look at Picasso's Guernica, walk out.
Might be that I'm spanish and has a higher significance for me, but I never get tired of seeing that painting while I'm there.
Click to expand...

Fidel,

I saw Guernica at the big retrospective at MOMA mucho decades ago in the seventies. Makes my big prints look rather tiny. LOL.

An interesting story I heard about Picasso. When dining out he would ask if he could pay by check, and these checks would never be cashed because of his signature was deemed worth more than the bill. Basically Picasso was printing his own money. Much smarter than BitCoin IMHO. LOL.

I'll likely try to recover my fluent Spanish. When I was married to a Costa Rican my Spanish got really good because we would fight all the time. The relationship was kinda like "I Love Lucy" except with a Calzone spin.

Pretty much Latinos would ask where I was from because I did not have an accent.

At the Meet-Up I got the impression that people were thinking that I'm moving, but that would only be because of retirement. Pretty much I don't have enough money to stay, and there are so many cities that are great that have 30-25% less cost of living.

If I got shown the door at work at age 62, less than two years away, I could just retire in Nashville and be fine because the cost of living is 40% cheaper. That's the thing with New York dollars (inflated income). The same money elsewhere can go plenty far.

I would send out "Maggie" to work though. I don't want to work hard anymore. Proud of being a lazy slacker.

Mad-Rid has a 30% cheaper cost of living. I think I would like the climate. Perfect for a lazy guy like me. Glad I had a day-job, but I never thought I would live this long when I was younger. LOL.

Cal
 
finguanzo said:
Cal, while in Madrid, swing by the Reina Sofia Museum.
My ritual whenever I'm there, walk in, take a look at Picasso's Guernica, walk out.
Might be that I'm spanish and has a higher significance for me, but I never get tired of seeing that painting while I'm there.
Click to expand...

Fidel,

I thought you were Port-2-guess.

Cal
 
No sir, always lived among the Portuguese/Brazilian in Newark, learned how to speak and all, but I am Spanish. Asturias to be exact. Not much difference between the two cultures really.
We have always had a back and forth war in Newark, Spanish against Portuguese. Always good fun.
 
finguanzo said:
Cal, while in Madrid, swing by the Reina Sofia Museum.
My ritual whenever I'm there, walk in, take a look at Picasso's Guernica, walk out.
Might be that I'm spanish and has a higher significance for me, but I never get tired of seeing that painting while I'm there.
Click to expand...


But seriously, go to the Prado. Skip all the so-so Spanish painters. Elbow aside the tourists from the 'garden of earthly delights', and stay as long as you want. You can just get back on the plane after that.

(Alright, some of the other paintings are pretty good also)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From "Maggie's" report The Spanish are mucho relaxed. I'd be right at home being a lazy slacker.

Not sure Maggie can relax. I seem to love crazy women. LOL.

Kinda funny that since I'm Chinese I'm expected to speak the language, and when people learn that my second language is Spanish it is though of being rather odd.

First off Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, and we, the United States, are the 5th largest Spanish speaking country in the world.

My dad back in the day wanted to send me to private school in Chinatown so I could learn Chinese. I now regret that I don't speak Chinese. With English, Spanish and Chinese I could communicate with a large population of the world, and I think I would have had many more opportunities.

Back in the early 70's NYC's Chinatown had a population of only about 20K people, and 95% were Cantonese. It was a place of gang warfare and was considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in NYC. In the early 70's the weapon of choice was hand-to-hand combat (Kung-Fu), but in the later 70's it was three piece suits and guns.

The Chinese are very present in Latin American culture. At one time Havana, Cuba had the biggest Chinatown in the New World due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws (1885 till Nixon normalized relations with China in the early 70'S). Pretty much there is a long history in the U.S. where the Chinese were regarded as the enemy.

I grew up with part of that history. Between 1943 and 1952 only 1428 Chinese were allowed to become natralized Americans, and only due to their service in the U.S. military. In WWII China was an ally, but in 1952 again the Chinese were considered the enemy due to the Korean War.

The 1960 census only recorded 238K total Asians in the entire U.S., about half of those Asians were Chinese; and 95% of those Chinese were Cantonese. Realize I was born in 1958 and was counted in the 1960m Census.

Here at work it seems all the Chinese have a hard time believing I'm Cantonese. When I ask what part of China do they think I'm from I am told Japan frequently, yesterday I was told Korea from someone from Shanghi, my boss who is Cantonese from Taiwan says I look like a Japanese terrorist. I have been also told western China.

BTW I have oddly been called a Spic and a Puerta Rican. LOL. This is not because I now live in Spanish Harlem, and is likely only just because of the tone of my skin.

I think my thick eyebrows and facial hair are the features that might suggest western or northern Asia, as well as Japan.

I do believe that somehow this legacy of being unwelcomed continues as I prepare to leave NYC. I do believe I am Cantonese, the migrants that have a big history of wandering around the world. Understand that there are mucho Cantonese in the Phillipines, Indonesia, Maylaysia, and Vietnam. Regardless of my appearence I do feel I carry this legacy of wandering: perhaps this is why I'm a street photographer.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
From "Maggie's" report The Spanish are mucho relaxed. I'd be right at home being a lazy slacker.



Not sure Maggie can relax. I seem to love crazy women. LOL.



Kinda funny that since I'm Chinese I'm expected to speak the language, and when people learn that my second language is Spanish it is though of being rather odd.



First off Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, and we, the United States, are the 5th largest Spanish speaking country in the world.



My dad back in the day wanted to send me to private school in Chinatown so I could learn Chinese. I now regret that I don't speak Chinese. With English, Spanish and Chinese I could communicate with a large population of the world, and I think I would have had many more opportunities.



Back in the early 70's NYC's Chinatown had a population of only about 20K people, and 95% were Cantonese. It was a place of gang warfare and was considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in NYC. In the early 70's the weapon of choice was hand-to-hand combat (Kung-Fu), but in the later 70's it was three piece suits and guns.



The Chinese are very present in Latin American culture. At one time Havana, Cuba had the biggest Chinatown in the New World due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws (1885 till Nixon normalized relations with China in the early 70'S). Pretty much there is a long history in the U.S. where the Chinese were regarded as the enemy.



I grew up with part of that history. Between 1943 and 1952 only 1428 Chinese were allowed to become natralized Americans, and only due to their service in the U.S. military. In WWII China was an ally, but in 1952 again the Chinese were considered the enemy due to the Korean War.



The 1960 census only recorded 238K total Asians in the entire U.S., about half of those Asians were Chinese; and 95% of those Chinese were Cantonese. Realize I was born in 1958 and was counted in the 1960m Census.



Here at work it seems all the Chinese have a hard time believing I'm Cantonese. When I ask what part of China do they think I'm from I am told Japan frequently, yesterday I was told Korea from someone from Shanghi, my boss who is Cantonese from Taiwan says I look like a Japanese terrorist. I have been also told western China.



BTW I have oddly been called a Spic and a Puerta Rican. LOL. This is not because I now live in Spanish Harlem, and is likely only just because of the tone of my skin.



I think my thick eyebrows and facial hair are the features that might suggest western or northern Asia, as well as Japan.



I do believe that somehow this legacy of being unwelcomed continues as I prepare to leave NYC. I do believe I am Cantonese, the migrants that have a big history of wandering around the world. Understand that there are mucho Cantonese in the Phillipines, Indonesia, Maylaysia, and Vietnam. Regardless of my appearence I do feel I carry this legacy of wandering: perhaps this is why I'm a street photographer.



Cal
Click to expand...



Cal,
You do kind of look like a terrorist when you are doing kung fu moves with the spike from the rapidwinder out in the street. The rest of the time not so much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CNNY said:
Cal,
You do kind of look like a terrorist when you are doing kung fu moves with the spike from the rapidwinder out in the street. The rest of the time not so much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Christian,

That is the vestiges of my Lawn-Guy-Land upbringing. That's part of the "Calzone" persona. I remember when we had a guest attend our Meet-Up from some other part of the world, he was surprised to see me, "You're Calzone?" he said. LOL.

A lot of that Brooklyn tough guy persona comes out from my upbringing. LOL.

On my old Passport the photo is kinda funny. I sport a Fu.

Also my second oldest brother could of been mistaken as Pancho Villa. He really looks the part. He's a true 6 footer, but you might mistaken him for some homeless guy, even though he is a millionaire. Although he is a Capricorn like me, he is the least educated in my family, and the wealthiest. Dropped out of Brooklyn College where he had a full scholarship, joined the Navy serving on Nuclear attack subs, and made mucho money investing on microwave companies before there were cell phones.

So I'm the most educated in my family: BA, MA, MFA. My brother is kinda like me: a lazy slacker; but I think I have a richer life.

While I might put a Corvette engine in a Jeep to create a suicide machine, my brother will buy a repo'ed red Toyota that the first owner purposely dented every body panel with a baseball bat before the bank got it back.

"It's still a new car," he said. LOL.

So I purposely build an impractical car in contrast to my brother's most practical car.

He was the Nuclear Operator at the controversal Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant on Long Island that was built and then decommissioned as a huge cost and waste of money. Never went on the grid or made electricity. As I remember cost 2.2 billion dollars. At that time he said he made more money on interest and dividends from his stocks than his salary, and he only worked there for the medical benefits he said.

He was a famous character. When I worked at Brookhaven National Labs the Radiation Safety Officer looked at my ID badge and asked me if I have a brother named Sunny, and when I said yes, the Doran asked me, "Does he still drive that old beat up red Toyota?" LOL.

My brother was not the only one known fro driving beat up old cars. Out on Long Island one time one of my neighbors politely asked me to do a big favor and not park my old ratty junker car in front of his house. LOL. I would buy these eyesores and somehow drive them around for years. Boy did I annoy a lot of people. LOL. There is this saying: "You know you're a hillbilly when half the cars you own don't run." At one point I had 5 cars. Most of the time I had at least one running, sometimes two.

Seems like annoying people can be a lifestyle. LOL.
Cal
 
finguanzo said:
No sir, always lived among the Portuguese/Brazilian in Newark, learned how to speak and all, but I am Spanish. Asturias to be exact. Not much difference between the two cultures really.
We have always had a back and forth war in Newark, Spanish against Portuguese. Always good fun.
Click to expand...
If you're up to date with Spanish politics, it's quite a circus in here lately. Not of the good fun type.

I didn't get to visit the Guernica while in Madrid, but enjoyed a long visit to the Prado. Recommended.
Old Town Madrid is quite compact and can be visited in a couple days.

Aside of the Political climate, the weather climate itself has been colder than usual. The coastline has seen two episodes of snow in a month, that used to be a twice in a decade thing.

Frustrates me a bit because I wanted a nice mild clear winter day to hike up the Montserrat mountain and seems it won't happen soon.

Say if any of you get to Barcelona and I'm around. Spring weather should be good. I do plan to defect to Scandinavia; Just like the Silicon Valley people are with NZ.

Calzone said:
Here at work it seems all the Chinese have a hard time believing I'm Cantonese. When I ask what part of China do they think I'm from I am told Japan frequently, yesterday I was told Korea from someone from Shanghi, my boss who is Cantonese from Taiwan says I look like a Japanese terrorist. I have been also told western China.
Cal
Click to expand...
As that movie title: Kung-fu-sion. Japanese terrorist cracked me up.
Filipinos have a good way to spot each other rather accurately from what I see. Spanish are varied. I'm mixed, and I'm thinking that I should exploit my very decent English to avoid getting into Spanish political discussions overseas.

When in the Empire State elevator, the "where you guys from?" popped up and I answered Barcelona, Elevator Operator said "Oh, Venezuela" and I had to correct.

Chinese here are known for business and hard work. Lots of Bazaars carrying all sorts of cheapo things.
I still feel there's an old world laugh about "Made in China" but it's not gonna be long until they get the last laugh. AFAIK Japanese and Korean things weren't well reputed not so long ago.
 
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