Razorlight

In the city last night, at the Bowery Ballroom to be precise. It cost only $18 to rip it up to the sound of razorlight's rock n roll lies. Awesome!

"...All my life Watching America

All my life

There's panic in America

Oh Oh Oh, Oh

There's trouble in America

Oh Oh Oh, Oh..."

Laura, Joe and Kim strike a pose Johnny Borrell stylie!

Irish Voice

My job as an Entry Clearance Assistant isn't exactly what you would call glamourous but there are occasional brushes with fame. Processing visas for Premiership footballer, Clinton Dempsey of Fulham, or for top House DJ, Erick Morillo, and assisting distressed British nationals, like singer Joss Stone, are some of the more noteworthy instances in recent weeks.

But this week I achieved my own fifteen seconds of said fame with the publication of Irish Voice, a newspaper circulated throughout the U.S. and Canada with stories of interest to Irish-Americans. I had had my photograph taken with some of my fellow Irelanders at the event with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Wales and it made page 22!

Only in New York my friends, only in New York.

Update

The observant among you will notice that I have been awol with regard my blog in recent weeks and this is largely due to issues with my computer. I am back communicating the NYC antics with the world. All I need to do now is put some credit on my phone I am a good to go on all fronts!

Peter Hain MP and Paul Robeson Jr

Last Monday (the 12th) I attended a reception held in honour of the Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland The Right Honourable Peter Hain and Paul Robeson Jnr.

The event marked the bi-centenary of the end of the slave trade in the UK and to commemorate the close and celebrated association of leading African-American singer, actor and human rights activist Paul Robeson with the people of South Wales.

My invite was secured as a result of my Northern Irish ways. While representing the Lisburn massive I enjoyed the food, drink and the New York Labor Chorus performing a selection of Paul Robeson's songs. Having never heard of Paul Robeson I did a little bit of Wikipedia research and I realised that I had enjoyed music as a result of his songs: the Manic Street Preachers' song "Let Robeson Sing", which appears on their album Know Your Enemy, was written in his honour.

Central Park Winter Jam

After my forays with Maths I headed down to Central Park to check out the 2nd annual Winter Jam. A random mix of free stuff, snowboarding and generally all round coldness. The only thing is that they had to ship snow in as despite the cold temperatures (-10 degrees Celsius and less) there has yet to be a New York winter snowfall (when I wrote this last week there hadn't been any snow - now there has). Some photos taken with my new new camera......

MathCounts

This past Saturday (Feb 10th) my love for Mathematics had me awake at 5.30am. I had signed up to volunteer for MathCounts Manhattan, which was taking place in the Mathematics building of Columbia University. In some way the event was like a Maths spelling bee. Mathletes from schools all over Manhattan competed in the competition, which was comprised of the Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown rounds. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders were tested in each round and only the top 12 made it to the Countdown round, which resembled a spelling bee much more than the others. In the Countdown round the kids went head to head answering questions as quickly as they could. They proved themselves worthy of the Ivy League setting as they answered questions before I'm sure some of the adults could even read the complete question. I was definitely one of those adults at times! A thoroughly enjoyable morning, despite the early start.

I am happier than my face suggests - Maths woo!

The Countdown Round

Mathematics building at Columbia University

Test yourself......

Question - The symbols §, #, ª and © represent digits in the following subtraction. Find the integer value of §.

6 ª #
- § 8 #
_____
1 © ª

Answers on a postcard please!

The Garden

On Friday evening (Feb 9th) I went back to what is fast becoming one of my New York City highlights. Madison Square Garden was playing host to my second NHL game. The New York Rangers were hosting the Tampa Bay Lightening in a game vital for both sides as they vie for a place in the playoffs. Armed with my second new camera of the year, which this time I made sure I didn't lose, I saw the Broadway Blues record a 5-0 win. Let's go Rangers!!!

I was so glad to be able to take these photos and I hope you enjoy them......

Super Bowl Sunday

Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl XLI
Miami, FL

93 million Americans and I spent Sunday evening watching the 41st Super Bowl - the climax to the NFL season and arguably the biggest sporting occasion in US sport. I have to admit to not paying that much attention as I enjoyed the all you could eat and drink delights of The Red Lion on Bleecker Street.

Highlights of the event were the one-off commercial breaks that have millions of dollars invested in them as the Super Bowl is seen a great way to entice the massive audience into buying your product. The half time show that has become infamous in recent years but this year passed with little incident as Prince performed some of his classic hits including Purple Rain. The Bears first touchdown that came after only 14 seconds of play. And if you're interested the Colts won.

A fun evening but it just wasn't quite the Irish Cup Final!