We are at Niagara falls this weekend - on the Canadian side. I'll let pictures do the commentary. The drive from NJ was punctuated by an overnight stay at a Hampton Inn at Cortland NY and a visit to Syracuse.
Akshay had fun while we lunched at a Thai place.
We crossed the rainbow bridge into Canada and checked into our hotel - and got a room with a reasonable view.
Then we went to the falls. It was around 7pm and still bright
And, of course, got the obligatory family snap with both the falls in the background
Then, we returned for the lighting and fireworks.
Just about passable is my verdict. I think there was potential to make a great train movie. What we got was an interesting movie but not a riveting one. The sights and sounds of the subway were underplayed. Those not familiar with New York wouldn't have caught what the alignment of the Lexington ave line in the city is (or even what the boroughs are), what Pelham is, how the new trainsets differ from old ones, what is a local, what is an express etc.
They could have used the pretext of Travolta doing a reconaissance to show plenty of subway sights and sounds of express trains thundering past stations, trains accelerating, deccelerating, honking, screeching...and supply some context (in geography, train trivia, New York City...)
A large chunk of the movie is shot in a stationary subway car with Travolta on the phone with Denzel W.The real subway 'action' is when they try to escape and the single car runs unmanned. There is some debate about whether these trainsets will allow a single car to run by itself or whether at least two will be required.
I didn't get the whole point of Travolta forcing Denzel W. to confess to bribe taking. Are we supposed to believe that he did it? Some of the general new York city shots are good. The control room looks realistic. The armed men don't look particularly menacing and the snipers are made to look incompetent.
The proportion of R160 trainsets on the E line has gone up significantly - to over 50% in my opinion. The highest R160 serial no. I have seen on the E is 9437. Given that there are cars from the 90XX, 91XX series also operating on the 'E', that's a lot of cars. Of course, other lines like the 'F' must have gotten some of them. But it is not uncommon to see 3-4 R160 E's in a span of 10-15 minutes at any given station.
On the topic of glitches in the new R160s, today's is a serious one. The AC seemed to have failed in car 9186. Non functioning displays or the occasional jammed door is one thing. An AC failure seems more serious. I transferred to the adjacent car where I found this tag. It's interesting to see that they're crediting two places for the manufacture of this car. Never seen that sort of thing before
Apologies for the shake. What is made in Yonkers and what is made in Lincoln? And how does stuff from Lincoln come to Yonkers? On flatbed railcars?
For those who don't know, Mr Vinod Mehta is the editor of "Outlook", probably the best current affairs magazine in India.
Mr Mehta, you're an ex-Mumbaikar in Delhi and I have always believed that you combine Mumbai pragmatism with Delhi political insights very well. I have always known you leaned slightly to the left, which is fine for I believe it is possible to be objective while having specific political views. But you have sorely disappointed me with your articles post May 16. I specifically refer to two articles:
1) "No Hate Politics" on May 25.
When I saw this, I was hoping for your usually solid analysis of the losers. I was willing to ignore the title, which obviously alluded to only one of the two big losers. The BJP's tally went down from 150+ to 110+ - a roughly 25% decline. It's ally, JD(U), improved its tally. A big disappointment to them, but by no means a washout. The Left parties went from 60+ to barely 30 - a 50%+ decline.
You said "Verdict 2009 is an unambiguous, comprehensive and titanic rejection by the country of extremist politics—of the BJP and the CPI(M)". Very true. But why does teh rest of the article only assess BJP while there is not as much as a word on the left - who saw a bigger decline by any standards? You said "Let me flag a few howlers". No howlers you can recall from messers Karat and Yechuri? Where is the balance? Where is the objectivity? This almost sounds like what I see on MSNBC & FOX here in the US- completely and unabashedly biased reporting. I still can't bring myself to believe this is from you.
2) Your last "Delhi Diary"
Here, you pretty much credit the left with "slowing" India so it avoided the financial meltdown and go on to say (of free market capitalism's trickle down effect) "if it did not trickle down in 20 years, what guarantee is there that it will trickle down in the next decade? Remember, the poor vote with their feet!
It is almost laughable to imagine that India would have been a US style free market with a convertible rupee, privatised everything and no social spending if the left had not supported the UPA. Sure we would have had a few more reforms, a few more privatisations etc. but nothing that would have inextricably entangled us in the mess. SBI would not have been a Citigroup kind of case, no matter what. It is inexcusable that the UPA messed up even the most sensible NDA programmes like the golden quadrilateral road project. It is too early to pronounce that programmes like NREG;'s are successes - but I do not dispute the short term benefits to some which no doubt helped the UPA.
Now, for trickle down. What trickled down in the previous 45 yeards, Mr Mehta? 15 paise of every 1 rupee that was spent on welfare programmes (the consensus, more or less). Would BSNL have provided a vibrant cellular market that we have? I do not dispute that we shouldn't ape the west. I do not dispute that social spending is a must even when we know there are leakages.
But I digress. This is not meant to be a left v/s right or free market v/s socialism debate. This is about balance. You say you fear you may be labelled with the "S" word (Socialism). I say you should fear being labelled a leftist editor who has given up the Mumbai pragmatism, objectivity and sense of balance. Very disappointing. I am hoping this is not a trend.
I usually work in our office in the Rockefeller center on Fridays. This Fri was no exception. Got of work just a little before 6 and walked to the subway at 6th Av. The brasserie below was doing brisk business and the gentle chatter and clink of white and red wine glasses momentarily seemed to drive recessionary thoughts away.
But soon I was staring at bicycles hugging lamposts on 49th Street between 5th and 6th Av under the shadows of Radio City and NBC? Just green riders or someone trying to avoid buying the metrocard? Does Brian Williams ride a bike to work or is it a dude who's seen a pay cut?
I still have my metrocard and don't plan on alternatives. So I rode home on the subway
Then rode with friends in their car to Somerset NJ for a sumptuous south Indian dinner at Hoysala
To get there, you drive on the NJTP which, mercifully, had normal traffic conditions for the Friday evening. Saw an Australias shaped cloud (do you agree?) and the usual evening airplane traffic at Newark.
All in all, a very satisfying evening.
Jersey City, NJ offers, unquestionably, some of the best Manhattan views.
And it has a semblance of a skyline itself. The Goldman Sachs building (see below) is undoubtedly the crowning glory of the JC skyline. The Colgate clock next to it provides an interesting contrast. Seen from the riverfront next to the Hyatt (which kind of juts into the Hudson), you also see the Verrazano bridge all lit up.
