Ah, nothing like a piping hot slice of pizza for breakfast to fuel the start of another fine NY adventure! As I polished off the slice while walking to my brother’s place, I suddenly experienced an oddly familiar sensation – but it had been so long, for a brief moment I didn’t know what it was! What the hell is up with my hand?! I wondered… but before I even had a chance to look, I knew. It was the pizza grease!
It ain’t a true NY pizza experience until you feel that hot, moist, tasty goodness drip down your hand. It may sound disgusting but disgusting is an indelible part of New York charm! I mean forget the grease, look at the wall and general state of the city behind me! Downtown LA tries it’s best but it can’t quite capture the Je ne sais qua of Manhattan filth. Speaking of which…
Here’s my brother, displaying all the style and elegance New Yorkers are known for. I call this photo Carefree panache on the M14 to Lower Manhattan. Wow, I just noticed my brother’s chin looks exactly like Peter Griffin’s on Family Guy. Uncanny!
They don’t build ’em like that anymore, huh? This is down in what I suppose you’d call the financial district, but it’s part of the Lower Manhattan District Court. We passed by on the way to our final destination and I was compelled for obvious reasons to grab this shot; as far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect nameplate for this great city, displaying a timeless strength and beauty. Can you imagine what our world would look like today if Christianity hadn’t toppled the Roman empire? Carl Sagan theorized that the Industrial Revolution might have occurred over a thousand years earlier if Rome hadn’t fallen (bringing science and progress to a grinding halt). We could have launched the space shuttle in 1000 AD! The Pope is in town this week, remind me to thank him. Here’s an image of the Supreme Court house, as seen on Law & Order!
Despite all this breathtaking architecture and morality, my brother and I had to move onward, giddily anticipating our rendezvous with the only building in New York even more awesome than the one you see above…
J&R Music World! Forget the Supreme Court, leave Times Square behind and just keep driving past the Empire State Building, for this is the only essential destination for any nerd visiting Manhattan. J&R isn’t just a website with tons of cool stuff and great prices – it’s a real place you can shop at! You can wander up and down the aisles and geek out as you drool over all the bounty under one roof; or, I should say, many roofs, as J&R basically owns an entire block of Manhattan. First there’s the digital photography building (yes, I said building, not floor or section), then the closeouts building, the music & DVD building and, finally, the computer & other high tech goodies building – four stories of silicon heaven, topped off by the “Apple Store on Four.” Here’s the view of the monitor area:
… and winning the prize for the most interesting and surprising item was this – the tube amp iPod dock:
The one you see here is the Fatman iTube. Are tube amps for the iPod worth it or just analog purist hype? Here’s a look at them from the New York Times (in keeping with our NY theme, of course). After an eternity in J&R, my bro and I reluctantly parted ways with the electronics superstore, knowing that we would forever be too spoiled to step foot in a Best Buy again (unless it was for comic relief). On the way home, however, an unexpected drama was to unfold, but more on that tomorrow in part 2 (since it’s 4am right now and I want to down some papaya juice and hit the sack).
Darth Mojo 
