Schoolgirl outfits in Times Square

I was on my morning slog through the middle of Times Square and stumbled across this delicious scene.


My goodness gracious! At at 6:25 a.m., no less! I think they're a singing group. When the photographer stopped to adjust his camera, they practiced a few dance steps. That sure woke my ass up. Can anyone explain the proclivity in Japanese society for sexed-up schoolgirl outfits?


At the risk of sounding like a filthy, lonely old rotter, which I am not (I don't think), I'm going to publicly admit that I find this provocative to the 10th power. I felt creepy starring. But if you're going to stand in the epicenter of the Crossroads of the World dressed like that and practice dance moves that resemble a stripper grind, I can assure you that you're going to be starred at by lonely, old office drones on their way to work. Duly warned. I run across stuff like this all the time. New York: Expensive, but not boring.

* * *

My current gig has me in a 10th floor corner office on 6th Avenue in the 50's. My windows face north to Central Park and east to the Museum of Modern Art. I love midtown. Its where the action is, baby!

You'd think that being ten floors above the Avenue would offer some peace and quiet but you'd be mistaken. Sound waves bounce off the surrounding skyscrapers and travel upward. You can hear quite clearly what's going on at street level. Taxi cabs with horns blazing sound like they're passing just outside my window. This would make most people grind their molars but I consider it part of the symphony of the city.

I am only occasionally bothered by this one dude. A street musician. See him down there by the lamppost?


He's one of these guys who sets up a drum kit using plastic paint buckets, pieces of metal, an overturned soup pot and some bins from the post office. His drum sticks are two thick pieces of wood.


He's very, very talented. He's also relentless. He can play for HOURS. It looks like he makes a pretty good buck and, as far as I'm concerned, he earns it. He plays his ass off. But it sounds like the playing right OUTSIDE my WINDOW. We are thinking of taking up a collection to pay him to stop playing.

* * *

Recent article in the New York Times:

9/11’s Post-Traumatic Stress Still Haunts

At least 10,000 people in New York, like Dr. Margaret Dessau, have post-traumatic stress disorder, and while many were emergency responders, others were witnesses.

Really? You witnessed it and are still traumatized? The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is coming up. Ten years and you're still not over it? There are people in this town who wear their suffering proudly like a thorny crown. They won't be denied their anguish. My apartment was less than a mile away so I speak from the position of someone who was a participant. It's time to liberate yourself, my poor, suffering fellow New Yorkers.

Hey, London! Berlin! Calling all cities who have been flattened by bombs! Were you still moping about ten years after the fact? I'll bet not.

Just watch how politicians distort and use the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 to rationalize their own radical nuttiness. It's going to be SICKENING.