Phillies 4 Mets 1 - Citi Field - Queens, NY

Before the World Series started and Chase Utley pwned CC Sabathia on Wednesday night there were some other memorable moments for the Philadelphia Phillies in New York City. 
They were in New Yankee Stadium in May.
They also brought some excitement to Citi Field.

Instead of embarrassing the Mets again, Wednesday night the Phillies visit the Bronx to continue the defense of their 2008 World Series victory.  Pics of Me in Front of Stuff visited Philadelphia to join in the celebration!  In case you missed it, it was kind of a big deal.

Before the Phillies could reach the playoffs and defend their title as World Phucking Champions they had to recapture the NL East Division title.  In 2007 and 2008 the Fightin' Phils battled the New York Metropolitans until the end of the season when the Phils did whatever it took to win and the Mets folded like an oragami master.  In 2008, Pics of Me in Front of Stuff visited the dump known as Shea Stadium for the last series between the NL East rivals.  Thank God they tore that place down.  The Phillies lost the game but they took 2 out of 3 in the series.  In case you have not heard the Phillies also went onto win the World Series.  In hopes of recapturing the magic, the night before the above triple play, a rag-tag team of Phillies' fans and a token Mets' fan visited the newly opened Citi Field for an enchanted evening of baseball

....and a lot of beer.

Like many great adventures, this one started with free hot dogs.  I doubt that pig would look so happy if he knew we were on our way inside to consume some of his friends that had been processed into tube form.  In case you have not heard of it before, Rudy's, a bar generously described as a dive on 9th Ave near 44th Street, serves free hot dogs to go along with their cheap beer.  The 6 of us, the 5 gentlemen pictured and CP behind the camera, started off the hot, humid summer day with some cold, cheap beer and some lukewarm hot dogs.  Fortunately, as a former employee at a hot dog factory, I know it is as safe to eat hot dogs uncooked as it is to eat them cooked.  Hot dogs are heated in the factory and are essentially ring bologna with a little less sugar.  In addition alcohol helps kill bacteria and given the amount of beer that was consumed it is unlikely any bacteria could possibly have survived in our stomachs.  Beer was essentially our Purel.  Rudy's home brews, Rudy's Red and Rudy's Blond, could be marketed as antibacterial elixirs...  Aside from the beer and hot dogs, there is also a hilarious story involving the Mets fan, the bearded young man in the picture above, and his personal space being invaded by a drunken middle-aged British woman.  She was willing to surrender to him ala Cornwallis  at Yorktown or maybe Corn-holis at Porntown.  Despite her willingness, the Mets fan was less than interested and the awkwardness pervaded and it included a British accent. 
High-larious!
Following our successful outing at Rudy's, the 6 of us hopped on the 7 train to Queens.  Little did we know we would accompany the wife of Mets right-fielder Jeff Francouer to the game. 

Aren't they a cute couple?

Through an excellent observation, CP noticed Mrs. Francoeur had a fancy ID badge attached to her purse.  Via some minor camera manipulation, she was able to photograph said badge for closer examination.  Caitlin Francoeur was riding the 7 train with what appeared to be her in-laws.  The elder Mrs. Francouer even laughed at one of my jokes.
Me: I had a friend in high school who once wore a t-shirt that said 'In case of rapture you can have this t-shirt.'
Jeff Francoeur's Mom: Ha Ha Ha
Taken completely out of context you may assume I went to high school full of Christian fundamentalists.  Maybe I did.  You may also have noticed that was not really my joke or really a joke at all, but it still happened.

We eventually arrived at Citi Field in Queens to meet the Mets and watch the Phillies beat the Mets.  The Metropolitans new home is certainly an upgrade over Shea Stadium which I am certain I have described as a dump more than once.  Twice actually.  Since the naming rights were partially paid for by TARP, it better be a nice stadium.  Our tax dollars got sunk into the damn thing, ours and Bernie Madoff's money.  I am glad my taxes only went into the stadium and not into improving the baseball team.  There are two obvious reasons.  The first is the fact that they are the Mets.  Seriously, aside from buying tickets, food, and beer at a game in which the Phillies are visiting I want no part in helping to finance that organization.  The second is that even if I did not hate the Mets, the Mets were awful this season. They were not quite Washington Nationals bad or Texas State Armadillos bad, but not far behind them in awfulness level.  The Mets did not have early 1990s Kath Ireland going for them either.

While early 1990s Kathy is quite a hottie, I still would not give up this guy to get her.

We did actually watch a baseball game in Citi Field.  J.A. Happ, 2009 NL Rookie of the Year, pitched 7 innings and gave up 1 run.  Chase Utley however countered with a 2-run home run into the right field seats in Citi Field.  If my facebook friends were paying attention they would know I christened that location Chase's Place due to Utley's propensity for hitting home runs there this season.   My Bartner called the right field seats in Yankee Stadium Chase's Place after he took CC Sabathia there twice in Game 1 of the World Series.  Too soon?  Either way Pedro Feliz and Chooch each added an RBI to get the final score and Brad Lidge even nailed down the save.  Despite the 11 blown saves everyone mentions, Lidge did manage to wrap up 31 save situations and this just happened to be one.
The obnoxious and victorious Phillies fan in me left Citi Field singing High Hopes. 

We miss you, Harry.
After all the singing and the yelling, thanks to the Phillies win and a whole lot of beer everybody had a good time at the game. Even the Mets fan.

 If you stay tuned, you may hear about singing and dancing part of the evening.  Also, maybe another story from Hawaii.

Phillies at Yankees - Yankee Stadium - The Bronx, New York

Before I express praise or disdain for New York Yankees fans, let me inform/remind you and them what happened when the Phils visited new Yankee Stadium on Memorial Day weekend via a transcript of the message I sent to my friend Christian, a Yankees fan:

2 of 3. Eat it beeatch.

I do not care that A-Rod did this to Brad Lidge.

It just does not matter. The World Phucking Champions came into the new Yankee Stadium and took 2 out of 3 games from the Evil Empire.

Rubbing the results of the series in Yankees' fans collective face aside, the new Yankee Stadium is quite an impressive piece of architecture.
While the original Yankee Stadium, across the street from the new one, oozed character from every single of its concrete pores it lacked in the aesthetics and the niceties of modern stadiums like Camden Yards, PNC Park, and Citizens Bank Park. While not a dump like Shea Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium was, for lack of a better term, was old. The new Yankee Stadium, inside and out, is beautiful, even to an angry Phillies fan like me.
The warm sunny day found me sitting in the upper deck in left field. Watching, my man-crush and World Series MVP, Cole Hamels pitch to Derek Jeter and the rest of the New York Yankees. (Cole Hamels Fact # 54: Cole Hamels puts his pants on 2 legs at a time.) Hamels was opposed by CC Sabathia, one of the more recent and largest acquisitions by the Yankees. Both pitchers performed well through the first 6 (Hamels) or 7 (Sabathia) innings against excellent lineups. The score was Phillies 3 Yankees 2 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Unfortunately, Brad Lidge was not lights out and allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the 9th. Here comes my praise for Yankees fans: I have been to a few visiting stadiums and there was not one that was more excited than new Yankee Stadium when the Bronx Bombers tied the Fightin's in the home half of the 9th. With the roar emanating from the crowd in the Bronx, I felt a pit grow in the bottom of my stomach. I have heard many people bemoan the loss of the home field advantage in the Bronx due to the loss of the old Yankee Stadium. However, for an almost meaningless interleague game in May, new Yankee Stadium was rocking as the Bombers tied the score. I could only imagine if the Red Sox were in town. Those $2000 seats behind home plate may not be the death of the Yankee's playoff hopes after all.

Fortunately, fellow Philadelphia faithful, there is a happy ending to this story. A scoreless 10th inning paved the way for a 2-out walk by Chase Utley and an RBI double by Carlos Ruiz. Clay Condrey pitched a scoreless 11th inning to send all those noisy New Yorkers home quietly. Overall, the day was a success. Pics of Me in Front of Stuff got to visit the new Yankee Stadium on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. The hot sausages and garlic fries were delicious, even though they were too damned expensive. Finally, we got to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the marriage of my mom and step-dad and the 27th anniversary of the birth of the Chief Photographer at Pics of Me in Front of Stuff.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Bill!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Clearly, that is not a picture of Melissa next to her birthday wishes. Just poor timing by my camera and the stadium cameras.

Empire State Building - Valentine's Day-New York City

Who is this happy couple? Neither of them are me and they are appearing at the top of my blog entitled Piics of Me in Front of Stuff. They are clearly standing and kissing in front of stuff and here's their picture.

So what's the deal?

I spent Valentine's Day at a wedding...at the top of Empire State Building...which the bride and groom had won for free from brides.com. Here's a little backstory. Kevin and Heidi, the lucky contest winners and the newly married couple pictured above, are friends of a friend who were willing to welcome a total stranger, me, to one of the most special moments in their life. Maybe it was because they wished to be featured in a blog of such high integrity like Pics of Me in Front of Stuff or maybe they needed some butts in the seats and my butt just happened to be located in a convenient geographic proximity to the Empire State Building. Regardless of the reason I was invited and I was on top of the Empire State Building with them.

In case you did not know, the Empire State Building is a prime piece of New York City tourism. Completed in 1931 at the corner of Fifth Ave and West 34th Street, the skyskraper was the tallest building in the world until 1972 when it was outpaced by the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A disturbing connection between those two buildings was the fact that both had planes crash into them. The Empire State Building was crashed into by a B-25 Bomber but, clearly, did not suffer the same terrible fate as the North Tower. Amazingly, the elevator operator survived a 75 story plunge breaking world record for longest fall survived in an elevator. Maybe that was why it was not a free trip to the top.

In a previous attempt to reach the pinnacle, I was at the end of a line with a 2-hour wait. I did not reach the top that day though I did get the lovely picture to the left. But I feel the siren call of tourist attractions quite strongly and I would have to take the elevator to top when given another opportunity. King Kong could not resist the majesty of the Empire State Building. He climbed up it a few times. Am I any better than the giant ape? That may be a question better left unanswered. It may be hard to believe sometimes, I do have feelings. I am very sensitive regarding my back hair.

In the wee hours of the morning Pics of Me in Front of Stuff's chief photographer and I ventured into the City that Never Sleeps and worked our way to the Lower West Side. We witnessed the joining of two people in holy matrimony. The happy couple exchanged their vows on one of the upper floors and posed for the necessary pictures featured in advertisements for brides.com, the Empire State Builidng, and the US Coast Guard. Both are officers and graduates of the US Coast Guard Academy as were most of the invitees. Then the entire wedding moved up to the Observation Deck to take in views of Manhattan in the early morning as well as for the bride and groom to be photographed some more.

It will come as no surprise that it was cold and deserted at the top of that building. The wedding started around 7AM. How often do you see a tourist destination completely devoid of tourists? Considering there had been a two-hour wait for the elevator ride previously, this was probably an image rarely seen by non-employees. Thanks to Kevin and Heidi's invitation I was lucky enough to witness it. My wanderings often take me to unique pieces of scenery, but most of those are places people besides me have little desire to see. This trip to the top of the Empire State Building surpasses all of my other unusual wanderings in exclusivity by a mile. It was their special day, but I can not pretend that I did not feel a burning desire to do what I always do at landmarks - my narcistic need to get my picture with it in the background. And naturally, I did.

Congratulations Heidi and Kevin! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Erie Turntable - Port Jervis, NY

Where it's at!

I got two turntables and a microphone

Where it's at!

-Beck, Where It's At!


From the punctuation, Beck was making a statement not asking a question. But honestly, who gives a shit about Beck's punctuation?! By it, I am going to tell you he meant a historic turntable then he needs look no further than Port Jervis, NY, home of the Historic Erie Turntable. That is the same Point Jervis that is home of the PA/NY/NJ Tripoint making the Turntable the 3rd most famous landmark in Orange County, New York behind the Tripoint and Orange County Choppers.

In case you do not know, a turntable in relation to railroads and not Beck, is a device used for turning railroad cars around. According to Wikipedia, turntables were especially useful for steam locomotives because they were not designed for extensive use in reverse which was required for return trips. Turntables were essential to rail travel in the 1800s. Port Jervis embraced its rail road heritage by putting up small brown signs announcing the Historic Erie Turntable and a train with an American flag posted next to it.

AMERICA!!!

Aside from the red, white, and blue and trains, there is nothing more American than trespassing! Just ask Native Americans, they left the fence open to foreign invaders like the propietors of the Historic Erie Turntable.

Fortunately for the Erie Turntable, I did not have manifest destiny on my side, just digital camera and the need to get my picture taken in front of unique and/or historic objects.

PA/NJ/NY Tripoint - Port Jervis, NY

There are a multitude of places in the US where the borders of 3 states intersect. There is only one where 4 states intersect, the Four Corners which aligns the edges of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. However, since I live in the northeastern United States, I am stuck near the more boring three state intersections. My favorite state being Pennsylvania and my residence currently being central/northern New Jersey I found myself traveling on a sunny Sunday morning to the one of the less unique three border intersections, this one connecting PA, NY, and NJ.

The funny thing about the PA/NY/NJ Tripoint is its location which is in the middle of the Delaware River. There are actually 2 monuments demarcating the borders intersections in Port Jervis, NY and neither of them is any closer than a few hundred feet from the actual spot. Unfortunately, I was neither prepared nor practiced as a kayaker or a swimmer and so I could not attempt to find the exact spot. I did take pictures of both incorrectly located land-based monuments. Below is actually the first one you come across when visiting the tripoint via land.
This monument must also be a local hang out for whatever has replaced the Goth kids that used to walk around the same mall I bought Magic: The Gathering playing cards. How do I know this? The melted wax at the base of the monument. Apparently, monuments depicting the incorrect location of the borders of 3 states has mystical powers. The wax may also be related to the cemetery you have travel through to get to the monuments. Maybe it was the bridge for I-84 under which the monument was located. Maybe its just the fact that Goth kids (or whatever they are these days) enjoyed going to the same weird places I do but they also enjoyed burning candles.

Regardless of who was there before me, I can now add the PA/NY/NJ Tripoint to locations I have visited. I continually find myself searching for my next conquest, the next victim to serve as background for my narcisstic need to have my photograph taken. The world is littered with random crap. However, I have kept myself vigilant because I never know where more random crap may turn up.

Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, NY

Homer Simpson called beer the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. Was he right? Does x always equal beer? Probably not, however life might be more enjoyable and strangely blurry. It is not unusual to find beer and I in the same place. There is beer at home and beer most places I go save work and my car. On Friday night, I found myself visiting one of the homes of beer - Brooklyn Brewery. Many foodstuffs, like fruit, vegetables, and baked goods, taste better when they are obtained fresh from the source After two separate trips to individual breweries, I learned this is not the case for beer. So long as it is cold or even when it isn't, beer is good just about anywhere, any distance from the brewery. Fortunately, at Brooklyn Brewery it is quite delicious.