From York to New York - out with the old, in with the new

Hey guys, Merry Christmas to you all from New York City! We’ve got the turkey ready to roast and after a last minute dis-organised hunt for liquor we found a friendly non Christian establishment to purchase said ailments.

Jo: Merry Christmas all from the Big Apple where the sun is shining and the sky is blue! The city is amazing and the shopping is even better! Happy Holiday!!

On a lighter note, a hilarious set of events are occuring in Belgium at the minute after the local TV station aired a spoof news report claiming that the Flemish had declared independance, fracturing the country in two. They had politicians, police and some great misuse of archived footage to make it more interesting. Here is how the New York Times covered the unfolding drama, and check out the actual show on YouTube. It painfully highlights the cultural gap that exists in Belgium…
Also, I stumbled upon this hilarious 1970’s report on american TV about how a small town handled a dead whale which had expired on arrival, by opting for the obvious TNT disposal strategy! This clip is subtly entitled - Exploding Whale

Two weeks now…! Seems like a great deal more, people are right to say that the city absorbs you completely. A real hive of activity, the city is particularly endearing at this time of year. I’ve already posted a few pictures up however do excuse the problems when going through the albums, i need to work on fixing that. (the slideshows work nicely though).

My new job at Acronym Media has been great, looking out of the Empire State Building offers awesome sights of the city from dawn till dusk. My colleagues have been very welcoming and you can feel a real vibe that something special is happening here.

Being right on Central Park’s doorstep provides David and I the luxury of regularly running the various loops in the park, I even spotted two raccoons by in the reservoir! They were arguably really fat and at first i thought they were rats, which the MTA has called all out war on by digging deep into the metro system to purge the poor souls. I think they add to the experience and certainly keep me entertained when waiting for the trains.

Christmas is upon us in NYC, the big stores have their display window scenes all set, the Bergdorf one is pretty cool off Fifth Av. Cartier has built out their boutique’s facade out with massive red present boxes and regularly spewing out Christmas tunes. Amongst all this cheer and preparation, the weather is up to some strange tricks, we’ve had really warm weather and may be on to set a record temperature for December at an average 14C! It will be strange not spending Christmas with mum and dad in Belgium this year, and I’ll miss mum’s cooking for certain! But don’t feel sorry for me, my best friend Jo has been drafted in on turkey duty and dare I say that mulled wine will be flowing generously as we celebrate the holiday season in the Big Apple. Mark and Louise, the countdown has started, I’ll make sure that your trip here will be unforgettable! Looking forward to it

I’ll be signing off for now until next time I wish you all a fabulous Christmas wherever you are. A special hello goes out to David in San Francisco, I wish you, your wife and lovely child a merry christmas and the best of luck for the new year.