“Along similar lines, I got an email from reader Aaron in Bed-Stuy who suggested that folks who operate without a smartphone, “outsource to everyone around them, which I think is a power move.” *
*You know there is a lot to that! Back when I didn’t have a cellphone and whenever I had car trouble, or ran out of gas (which I did regularly, since I always temped fate when the low-gas light came on), people WITH cell phones always appeared within minutes to save the day! I wonder if they felt superior because they had phones and I didn’t??
*A story, as usual: one evening I was meeting my wife and sons for dinner at an Outback Steakhouse, near where we lived. I was coming home from work and it was just easier to meet (meat?) instead of me drive home first. So, I just about made it with the gas-light pounding me over the head to GET GAS DUMMY!!” when I ran out on the exit ramp, about 1/4 mile from Outback. Nearly made it! Naturally, a guy stopped and asked if I wanted to use his cellphone to call for help, but I said I’d take a very short ride to Outback, instead. So me and this guy pull into Outback, at the entrance and I get out…at the very same moment my wife and kids pull up behind us, to see me exit from this guy’s car and they are “WTF?!!” (well the kids were too young to say that, then). I told my wife I ran out of gas on the exit ramp and I left the truck there; and we can go home and get the gas can after we eat and go get the truck from the ramp! I was in business then and the logo/phone number/address was on the side of the truck…it was a busy exit ramp, so I got a lot of free advertising!! My wife threatened to divorce me and GIVE ME custody of our sons, if I ever ran out of gas again…that woke me up!
The family from England is a treasure. I think their quotes sum it up, "I think the people in the front want to show the pictures to their mums," said Bex. "I'd imagine the people in the back like getting shat on,” said Dan." LOL! I had no idea the bull even had balls. The more you know. Another interesting Cafe Anne.
Justin I loved the family from England too! The moment I spotted them I knew they'd be fun. It wasn't just the purple hair, they were talking and laughing together and clearly having a good time.
"It's mainly a tourist thing," he said. "They line up to take photos, and there are always two lines—one for the front of the bull, and one for the back, with the balls. How do people decide what line to stand in?”*
** The English are simply FASCINATED by bollocks!! Bollocks, plural noun, bol·locks , 1. chiefly British, usually vulgar : TESTICLES. 2. chiefly British, usually vulgar : NONSENSE*
*I mean I’ve never lost the mindset of a boy from the 7th grade, but even so, I hope that I wouldn’t take a photo, of me holding the bull’s bollocks; especially in the digital age of no privacy and ESPECIALLY with Anne on the prowl for a story in NYC!!
Man, I don’t think I ever wanted anything as much as Curtis Sliwa wants to be mayor of NYC? Do rats have guardian angels? I’ll bet they had them long before humans did!
Hello Anne: As always, I love starting my week with your newsletter? Have you heard about Flaco, the owl? Might be fun to interview some of the folks watching his every move! 🙂
Looking at purple-haired Bex from Portsmouth England got me thinking.....What's with these folks who dye their hair in unusual colors? Maybe, Anne, this might be an investigative moment.
That would be fun Michael! Especially because a broader segment of the population these days is going around with crazy hair colors. Here in NYC you see a lot of ladies in their 60s and 70s with fluorescent pink or neon blue hair. It's sort of a thing. I wonder if it's also a national or global trend?
Firstly, you know how I feel about rats. Can we get the mayor under control? Secondly, I love how many Brits made it into your story this week. I believe all sensibly located at the head. Thirdly: "Because balls are funny!" Another great issue!
Anne, no one ever got a laugh by playing it safe! Everyone on this comment stream is prolly too young to remember jokes about the farmer's daughter and a traveling salesman!! For those people:
Fun mix of topics. I am interested in when, if ever, average New Yorkers will give up on the Mayor's schtick. He is entertaining at times, but the rat obsession makes him seem like a one-trick pony taking a selfie. Sliwa, on the other hand already has the most durable of legacies.
The British family was the best! ""Crackheads, heroin users, homeless people crapping on the street," said Dan." ... "In that respect, it's very like London" -- edge behavior seems most likely when we cram people together -- perhaps like rats -- apologies to the Mayor!!! The other more positive possibility is you get transformation and new stuff when you press things together -- amazing what can result with a little pressure.
Last comment about the bull...public art, especially sculpture is always supercool. You can judge how popular it is by noting where people can't resist to lean on and touch. The balls and horns are VERY SHINY!
Thanks Mark! I like that phrase—edge behavior. And yes it is for sure the result of when you cram people together. There's just more opportunity for interaction and random exchanges producing new or unexpected results, right?
And yes you correct to point out that both the balls AND the horns are popular as indicated by the very evident evidence.
While a stretch cramming people together is a bit like chemistry. Once you mix them together, most of the time you give off a lot of energy and it is real hard to separate them thereafter. Maybe that is what happens in the heads of longtime New Yorkers and Londoners :)
I wonder if any of your interviewees waited at both ends? The bull is worth the stop but hopefully they left time for the Brooklyn Bridge after rubbing bronze balls
MARK! Yes, I did interview a few who stood in both lines. One was a teacher from Paraguay who had this to say: "I hear the back is for luck.You touch the balls. The front, the strength is in the head. Symbol of the progress of America."
I think this kind of reasoning will lead half of the human race to say, go for it, its very lucky. I will go out on a limb and predict a supplemental comment from Mr. Bean...
Keri ‘s advice is spot on and Dan is so right. Link their comments to your piechart of those standing at the rear end of the bull and you can see that it tells us far more than you ever intended... 🐰
fabulous pics and interviews...this cafe thing just washed kinda over snuck up on me brooklyn hmmmmmm
anyways that new sculpture "the Embrace" depicting MLK and wife's arms (?) has confused me from every dang angle ever since i saw pics of it....can you get up there and report back with definitive description of just WHAT and Where is being embraced....but i do love it and the idea it commemorates the place they met and soooooo youthful in love
Haven't even read the issue yet but my stressful Monday morning was made when this came through :) Cafe Anne has truly become a weekly ritual.
That makes me so happy Emily, thank you!
She’s the hero this city deserves. 🙏
“Along similar lines, I got an email from reader Aaron in Bed-Stuy who suggested that folks who operate without a smartphone, “outsource to everyone around them, which I think is a power move.” *
*You know there is a lot to that! Back when I didn’t have a cellphone and whenever I had car trouble, or ran out of gas (which I did regularly, since I always temped fate when the low-gas light came on), people WITH cell phones always appeared within minutes to save the day! I wonder if they felt superior because they had phones and I didn’t??
*A story, as usual: one evening I was meeting my wife and sons for dinner at an Outback Steakhouse, near where we lived. I was coming home from work and it was just easier to meet (meat?) instead of me drive home first. So, I just about made it with the gas-light pounding me over the head to GET GAS DUMMY!!” when I ran out on the exit ramp, about 1/4 mile from Outback. Nearly made it! Naturally, a guy stopped and asked if I wanted to use his cellphone to call for help, but I said I’d take a very short ride to Outback, instead. So me and this guy pull into Outback, at the entrance and I get out…at the very same moment my wife and kids pull up behind us, to see me exit from this guy’s car and they are “WTF?!!” (well the kids were too young to say that, then). I told my wife I ran out of gas on the exit ramp and I left the truck there; and we can go home and get the gas can after we eat and go get the truck from the ramp! I was in business then and the logo/phone number/address was on the side of the truck…it was a busy exit ramp, so I got a lot of free advertising!! My wife threatened to divorce me and GIVE ME custody of our sons, if I ever ran out of gas again…that woke me up!
The very best part of this story is that you were gloating over the free advertising.
Anne you get me!!
The family from England is a treasure. I think their quotes sum it up, "I think the people in the front want to show the pictures to their mums," said Bex. "I'd imagine the people in the back like getting shat on,” said Dan." LOL! I had no idea the bull even had balls. The more you know. Another interesting Cafe Anne.
Justin I loved the family from England too! The moment I spotted them I knew they'd be fun. It wasn't just the purple hair, they were talking and laughing together and clearly having a good time.
Thanks for your kind words, glad you enjoyed!
"It's mainly a tourist thing," he said. "They line up to take photos, and there are always two lines—one for the front of the bull, and one for the back, with the balls. How do people decide what line to stand in?”*
** The English are simply FASCINATED by bollocks!! Bollocks, plural noun, bol·locks , 1. chiefly British, usually vulgar : TESTICLES. 2. chiefly British, usually vulgar : NONSENSE*
*I mean I’ve never lost the mindset of a boy from the 7th grade, but even so, I hope that I wouldn’t take a photo, of me holding the bull’s bollocks; especially in the digital age of no privacy and ESPECIALLY with Anne on the prowl for a story in NYC!!
Anne, this is too one-sided. We need some interviews with rats and, if she is available, the Rat Mayor.
Aharon, you KNOW that rats charge for interviews and ethical reporters don't engage in engage in checkbook journalism.
Not if you're wearing a RAT SUIT.
“Rat Czar” 😂 🐀
Stranger than fiction, right?
Yes 😂
That's Vladimir Putin's nickname, "Rat Czar."
Man, I don’t think I ever wanted anything as much as Curtis Sliwa wants to be mayor of NYC? Do rats have guardian angels? I’ll bet they had them long before humans did!
Of COURSE they do JRB!! EVERYBODY does!
Hello Anne: As always, I love starting my week with your newsletter? Have you heard about Flaco, the owl? Might be fun to interview some of the folks watching his every move! 🙂
A link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/owl-escapes-from-zoo-becomes-a-new-york-celebrity-180981619/
Thank you Debra! And I love all NYC animal stories so I will check this out for sure!
You make Mondays mornings a delight.
Thank you, Anne.
Awww thank you Drew! You just made MY Monday a a delight!
Looking at purple-haired Bex from Portsmouth England got me thinking.....What's with these folks who dye their hair in unusual colors? Maybe, Anne, this might be an investigative moment.
That would be fun Michael! Especially because a broader segment of the population these days is going around with crazy hair colors. Here in NYC you see a lot of ladies in their 60s and 70s with fluorescent pink or neon blue hair. It's sort of a thing. I wonder if it's also a national or global trend?
Firstly, you know how I feel about rats. Can we get the mayor under control? Secondly, I love how many Brits made it into your story this week. I believe all sensibly located at the head. Thirdly: "Because balls are funny!" Another great issue!
Thanks Jane! One Brit I interviewed told me, "We queue BECAUSE we're British!"
As a local it has never occurred to me to pose with the Bull. But now that I know how much my choices could reveal about who I am, perhaps I should😂
Well Jillian you can’t keep us in suspense—which line do you choose?
As a "farmer's daughter," I wonder her views on which end of a travelling-salesman she would choose??
JRB I am blushing on your behalf!
Anne, no one ever got a laugh by playing it safe! Everyone on this comment stream is prolly too young to remember jokes about the farmer's daughter and a traveling salesman!! For those people:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer%27s_daughter
OMG I LOVE that there is a Wikipedia article for this.
Fun mix of topics. I am interested in when, if ever, average New Yorkers will give up on the Mayor's schtick. He is entertaining at times, but the rat obsession makes him seem like a one-trick pony taking a selfie. Sliwa, on the other hand already has the most durable of legacies.
The British family was the best! ""Crackheads, heroin users, homeless people crapping on the street," said Dan." ... "In that respect, it's very like London" -- edge behavior seems most likely when we cram people together -- perhaps like rats -- apologies to the Mayor!!! The other more positive possibility is you get transformation and new stuff when you press things together -- amazing what can result with a little pressure.
Last comment about the bull...public art, especially sculpture is always supercool. You can judge how popular it is by noting where people can't resist to lean on and touch. The balls and horns are VERY SHINY!
Thanks Mark! I like that phrase—edge behavior. And yes it is for sure the result of when you cram people together. There's just more opportunity for interaction and random exchanges producing new or unexpected results, right?
And yes you correct to point out that both the balls AND the horns are popular as indicated by the very evident evidence.
While a stretch cramming people together is a bit like chemistry. Once you mix them together, most of the time you give off a lot of energy and it is real hard to separate them thereafter. Maybe that is what happens in the heads of longtime New Yorkers and Londoners :)
I wonder if any of your interviewees waited at both ends? The bull is worth the stop but hopefully they left time for the Brooklyn Bridge after rubbing bronze balls
MARK! Yes, I did interview a few who stood in both lines. One was a teacher from Paraguay who had this to say: "I hear the back is for luck.You touch the balls. The front, the strength is in the head. Symbol of the progress of America."
I think this kind of reasoning will lead half of the human race to say, go for it, its very lucky. I will go out on a limb and predict a supplemental comment from Mr. Bean...
Keri ‘s advice is spot on and Dan is so right. Link their comments to your piechart of those standing at the rear end of the bull and you can see that it tells us far more than you ever intended... 🐰
Woooo! Ha I am not going NEAR that one, Robert!
fabulous pics and interviews...this cafe thing just washed kinda over snuck up on me brooklyn hmmmmmm
anyways that new sculpture "the Embrace" depicting MLK and wife's arms (?) has confused me from every dang angle ever since i saw pics of it....can you get up there and report back with definitive description of just WHAT and Where is being embraced....but i do love it and the idea it commemorates the place they met and soooooo youthful in love
Thanks Appleton!
I was not familiar with "The Embrace" but I googled and it appears to be a Boston thing, which is likely we you referred to "up there."
So yes, but it will have to wait for CAFÉ ANNE road trip!
sorry i meant the sculpture is confusing to me as to body part
positioning as the bull well
he is Easy to figure out
ha
Thanks for the laughs!
Glad you enjoyed John!!
Thank you so much for interviewing us, we had a great time! Glad we made it into the article lol!
Love Bex (purple haired English lady 😆)
Bex! So glad you saw this! You guys were my favorite part of the story. :)