My good friend and long-time ICEr Chris K. (a.k.a. CBK1998) decided to spend Memorial Day weekend visiting NYC. After flying into JFK and successfully negotiating a maze of transportation modes, Chris met me in Penn Station on Friday night. We jumped the subway downtown and took in a late Jimbo Lunch, shopping at Sounds, followed by dinner. I took the liberty of banning Chris in person, just to be on the safe side.

On Saturday, we did the tourist thing, taking the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Lemme tell ya, on a summery Saturday during Fleet Week in NY, it was an all-day affair. It was the first time I've been there myself in a good 30-35 years--and if you wanna get inside the statue, be sure to make reservations on-line at least a day in advance.

Returning to Battery Park, we jumped the 4 Train to Union Square, repairing to The Cottage for a yummy Chinese dinner. After relaxing in the park there for a while, we ducked into the Virgin Megastore on 14th St. for a couple more hours of CD shopping.

On Sunday, we met my friends Ryan and Jeff (Jeff is now a contributing ICEr himself) to see the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Afterwards, we whiled away a couple hours at our favorite deli/restaurant just across the street from Madison Square Garden, dining and engaged in sparkling conversation.

I had to leave Chris to his own devices today. He called to say he was sauntering around midtown early this afternoon.

Chris'll be heading back to New Hampshire tomorrow. Bon voyage and see ya again soon, my friend!

What, no pictures?

I missed all the fun since I was on an upstate golf trip and then had a family BBQ to attend. Glad to see you guys had a ball in NYC.

I feel like I just read a Roger Ebert review of my weekend.

It's all LIES! LIES! LIES!...except for what Jimbo wrote.

I am back in my familiar environs, having finally mastered the intricacies of getting in and out of NYC for four days straight. Okay, technically, just getting into Penn Station everyday, but that's not important right now.

Of course, Jimbo remembers the details of everything better than me, because I was trying to keep everything straight and just keep up with him. If you travel to NYC as a visitor, I recommend meeting up with a native. It helps, trust me.

It would have been great seeing John G and other ICErs, but it was a holiday weekend, so it's understandable that people need to get away and have other things to do.

I can now say that I've met at least three ICErs (Jimbo, Walter P, Jeff L) in person, so that's a good thing.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you have to watch Jimbo in action to believe his prodigious CD buying habits. And they are not merely legend...they are fact. As for me, I bought one CD the whole time I was there. I think Jimbo didn't want to hang out with me Monday because he was secretly mad at me for not buying more CDs, but I guess I'll never know.

It was great to get out there and New York can breathe a sigh of relief because I'm home now. A Special thanks to Jimbo for being a host, tour guide and comic relief.

Hey Chris,

It was good to see you again.

1 CD? Heratic!

If you go to NYC, you have to buy 50 or 60 CDs (at least, that's what I did). Just ask Jimbo...

In a perfect world, that's how it would be! Of course, Todd had the advantage of hitting NYC during the final days of Tower's demise, with two locations to choose from. I have to admit I only hauled in 14 CDs over this past weekend--including a used copy of Thomas Dolby's recent live CD (figure Todd will appreciate that one).

Same here, Jeff. It was fun discussing music, movies and the merits of Keira Nightley.

Knightley

As someone who constantly nitpicks spellin' an' grammer, I say....GOOD JOB!!

Yeah, I was just thinking about how I had misspelled "heretic." Thanks for not pointing that one out...

That's grammar, Chris. Sheesh, must we ban you yet again?

What about Kelsey?

What do you mean, again??

I have a perpetual ban from Linda and Jimbo banned me personally when I was in New York. How many bans can one have concurrently??

And you're banned for banning me, Ven!

Hey, no ban-backs! I'm tellin' mom....

You two kids behave yourselves or I'll turn this chatroom right around!!

Too late!

By the way, Ven doesn't know it, but he's been double secret banned!

Was he there too? Damn... I've got to tag along on one of these Jimbo Dinners someday...

Actually, it's a Jimbo Lunch...and it has nothing to do with food.

As we all know, Lunch is the most important meal of the day for Jimbo.

It's hard to think about anything else when you're thinking about Keira Knightley...

Sung to the tune of Ringo from the White Album, "Good Knight, sleep tight". Ah yes, me and my weird word associating again.

I know, I know... I'm just playin' around, or engaging in a little tom foolery.



Besides... I'm not sure these Jim Bo Breakfasts have nothing to do with food...









Now... what's all this you were saying about Chelsea Grammar coming along and buying records for everyone?