8/24/04 Billy-B Views; Biking w/Owen and his Girlfriend to Rubber Duckie Race; Diner & Improv w/Louie and Friends:

WARNING: LOTS of LARGE photos:

This afternoon was gorgeous, and I decided to take a bike ride with Owen Poindexter, who was in town with his girlfriend, who I've not yet met.

They were going to meet me in Manhattan at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. But, after waiting for them for a while, and not able to call Owen's cell phone (because he literally doesn't have one), I decided to bike towards them, across the Brooklyn Bridge, figuring I'd meet them half-way across, as they were biking in from Brooklyn Heights.

While on the Bridge, I took some photos of the environs:

The Manhattan Bridge, next door. (and my bike, foreground).

Toward Midtown.

Looking straight up.

Looking down to DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights and the Watchtower complex (headquarters for the Jehovah's Witnesses).

Looking down the other way to Empire Park and DUMBO.

Looking south to the hint of the Verrazanno Narrows WAY in the distance. (About 8 miles).

When I didn't find Owen mid-bridge after taking plenty of photos, I decided to go back to the meeting spot, just in case they passed me. They weren't there, so I figured they were still coming, and I took a photo of the Woolworth Building from my bench.

Owen and Girlfriend arrived, and we biked across Chambers street (which unnerved Owen's girlfriend a bit, as she's not much of a city biker, and the bike she was borrowing was the wrong size for her), and I got to take a photo from the Hudson.

I feel like I can't get enough sky shots above Jersey City's waterfront from across the Hudson. I have so many already!

We biked south, around Battery Park City's North and South Coves:

And then we biked around the southern tip of Manhattan, arriving back at the East River, with a view of the old Brooklyn skyline.

We headed for Pier 17, where, we were told, there was to be a rubber duckie race. I found out about it on the internet by accident earlier today, and we thought it would be a hoot to check it out. We originally imagined it would be across the East River, but it was actually just from Pier 17 to Pier 16.

Basically, they released rubber duckies into a "track" on the water, on the other side of Pier 17. Then, they would float with the tide, down river, toward the finish line at Pier 16. The winning rubber duckie would be inspected for its corresponding adopter, and they would win a prize. The whole thing was a fundraiser for a local special olympics, I think. And you had until this afternoon, if you heard about it, to give in money and "adopt" a rubber duckie for the race.

They had an announcer doing a play-by-play on Pier 17, next to the Mall.

We stood around and snacked. A small crowd gathered after we arrived, finally confirming that we weren't waiting around for nothing.

Circle Line went by.

People stood on multiple balconies of Pier 17.

Finally the ducks began to emerge. We saw a hint of a few at first... but then we saw hundreds right behind!

At this point the silent and somewhat confused crowd began to hoot, holler, cheer, and get really excited in general. There is still a kid in all of us who loves rubber duckies, I guess, because there was nothing else but the sight of a tremendous load of rubber duckies floating at an imperceptible speed towards a finish line to incite the crowd.

They had a little tube at the finish line that would only allow one duckie to the front.

There was a collective raising of voices during the last few seconds, as the rubber duckie that was in the lead the entire time suddenly seemed to get lost, and a duckie from the pack seemed to dart forward and win. And all the while, I'm thinking "this is amazing!" and "this is totally ridiculous!"

I think it was worth it. And then... everyone slowly dispersed, and I have no idea what they're going to do with all those Rubber Duckies.

We then met up with Louie and friends (Erica Zeller in attendance as well) at the Washington Square Diner on 6th avenue and West 4th street. (Which is not in Washington Square.)

Then we chatted outside before heading to Upright Citizens Brigade for a show.

After the show, I was amused by a misplaced sign that seemed to suggest I climb a ladder into a construction site to continue my walk downtown towards the subway.

And I also enjoyed the view into this candy store that has installed internet access near the windows. Anything for a buck, eh? Lollipops? Tasty-D? Internet?