Yesterday we had a triad of Super events in the city: Super Tuesday with voting in the Democratic primary, a ticker tape parade for the winning of the Super Bowl by the New York Giants, and “Fat Tuesday” (the day before Lent).
I think that regardless of party affiliation, one has to admit that there is a pall hanging over the current Bush administration. The Iraq War has been highly contentious, with members of the Republican Party itself coming out against it.

But this is not a political forum, and I am not a pundit by any means. My point is that there is much dissatisfaction, the country has become isolated globally, and people are looking for a breath of fresh air. There is a stable of good candidates. I like what appears to be a lesser focus on partisanship and more on issues; this lack of partisanship has actually alienated McCain from some of his party.

Many see the populace as highly galvanized in this election year. We have the first serious woman and African American candidates and a Republican who looks more like an independent.

I was curious about the term galvanized used in this way. I have always associated the term with galvanized metal, the process of electrodeposition which is the coating of steel with zinc to provide a protective barrier. But this is the more modern meaning.
The term galvanize originally comes from the Italian Luigi Galvani and his discovery in 1783 that a frog’s leg could be made to move by applying an electric current, hence the term galvanism. This theme was picked up by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein, with the monster being animated using electricity.

I’m glad we didn’t have to rely on Luigi Galvani, Volta, Tesla, or Mary Shelley to galvanize the public this year – I’m not sure we have the technology (yet) to resurrect them 🙂

Historically, online netiquette has viewed the use of ALL CAPS as shouting and therefore discouraged its use, at least when used for entire sentences or longer – a phrase or word can be used for emphasis.
I find the color red to be a visual analogue. This red Charger, on a bleak, overcast day, really shouted out as I walked by. My first reaction was, “Wow”! My second was, “Is this blog worthy”? My answer was, “Sure, just figure out how to spin it.” After all, we’re in an election year, when the art of the spin is at its zenith.

Red is a primary color and is the longest wavelength the eye can see (anything longer is infrared.) Its associations and symbolism are staggering. It has represented energy; emotions including anger, passion; love; courage, sacrifice, and blood (which is why so many national flags use red); warning, danger, emergency (e.g. stop signs); sin and lust (e.g. the Scarlet Letter, the red-light districts of prostitution and brothels, Satan’s wardrobe); beauty (red roses); the sun and warmth; red ink, or being in the red. In various cultures, red plays a prominent role, such as in China, where its use and associations are myriad.

A person that owns and drives a red car is certainly making a statement, and whatever that statement is, it’s not about modesty or discretion. There is a commonly held belief that red cars are involved in more accidents and that drivers of red cars get more speeding tickets. Whether this is an urban myth or not is debated, but the belief certainly speaks to the perception of the red car owner by others.

So what does this have to do with NYC? I’m surprised that red is not the official color of New York or used more. After all, what city could better be thought of as one that SHOUTS money, power, biggest, and best. According to the patter of the con men playing three-card monte on the street, red can even make you money (good luck trying to win): ” Who see the red? You win my game, I don’t complain. Red’ll put you ahead, black’ll set you back. Who see the red?”

New York is a very large city, and being large means having a lot of stuff to move around. Much of this goes on behind the scenes – moving people via subways and tunnels, and moving things such as water, sewage, garbage, electricity, gas, steam, and freight via their own subterranean or superterranean systems. The amount and numbers of things moved in the city is staggering, e.g. 24 million pounds of garbage per day, 2.6 million tons of air freight per year, or 1.3 billion gallons of sewage per day. It’s rather hard to believe that transports of this magnitude are even possible and that the systems needed for them continue to work day after day, with very infrequent major failures or breakdowns.

If you like reading about this kind of thing, there is a wonderful book I was given as a gift: The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ashler, which goes into all of these systems and features NYC throughout as its example. The waterways of the city are extremely busy, and tugboats pushing barges are a common sight (like these in the East River), along with other maritime activities. When you get a chance, head for the water and look around…

Related Postings: Working Harbor, Big Allis, Jet Ski, Hollyhock, The Water Club, Manhattan Island, Cruising

As I have written before, it is easy in Manhattan to forget that this is an island. Which means that we are surrounded by water. So with the glorious weather we have had, I mounted my bicycle and, armed with a camera, made a short pilgrimage to the East River to see what I could see. To my surprise, I came across an enormous vessel – a U.S. Coast Guard cutter ship named Hollyhock, docked for a few days just north of the Water Club (a waterside restaurant), who permitted them to dock in their waters. Military force personnel always seem very happy to engage in conversation with civilians. According to a crew member with whom I spoke, the Hollyhock was on patrol and had traveled from its home base in Port Huron, Michigan via the St. Lawrence Seaway to NYC. Click here for a photo of two crew members examining my New York Daily Photo business card.

In reading about the ship, I came across things like, “The Hollyhock is a 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender that was launched January 25, 2003 in Marinette, Wisconsin.” Clarification was needed, so I read that “the Seagoing Buoy Tender is a class of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter originally designed to service aids to navigation, throughout the waters of the United States, and wherever U.S. shipping interests require.” Perhaps not the type of thing that excites most readers, but this ship does represent the latest in shipbuilding, propulsion, and ship control technology, allowing it to use a smaller crew. “A dynamic positioning system can hold the vessel within a 10-meter circle using GPS technology, allowing the crew to service and position navigation buoys more efficiently than before in 30-knot winds and 8-foot seas.”