December 20, 2003 [Saturday]......Marty's Wedding
Tonight was my friend Marty's wedding which we attended. It was a black tie affair at the Harmonie Club on 60th Street next to Central Park. Marty & Lindsay's wedding was also our first jewish wedding.
The setting was pretty plush with every detail taken care of. First was the traditonal ceremony, followed by drinks and nibbles which included an impressive sushi bar. Later we headed to the ballroom for dinner and the usual formalities. One that was quite amusing was when the couple are put on chairs that are then hoisted up and down in the air by others holding them from below. The parents then get the same treatment, at times hanging on for dear life.

The food was top notch and a 12 piece band played tunes during the night. As we left, each guest was given a copy of the next days New York Times which included the formal announcement and photo of Marty & Lindsay. The doorman got a cab for us to head home, luckily it was only a short wait as it was extremely cold out.

December 12 - 16, 2003 [Friday - Tuesday]......South Beach, Miami
A week ago I finally got around to booking the trip to Miami which I did online. There are tonnes of last minute deals and packages around if you look. We flew out of LaGuardia late in the afternoon and away from the cold weather. Miami is a 3 hour flight away and we took a cab out down to Miami Beach, Florida from there. We were staying in the heart of South Beach, along Collins Avenue. This time of year, Miami still has 70 degree weather so it is no wonder that many New Yorkers move there when they retire.
Our hotel was the Richmond Hotel, one of the original art deco hotels from the 1940's. It was only a street back from Lincoln Road, the main shopping strip.
A shuttle bus runs a loop of the South Beach area so we too a ride on that to have a look at the area. Friday was great weather so we could take a walk along the beach, it wasn't hot but there were still some people out in the water.

Despite Anh's paranoia, we hired a motor scooter for a couple of hours and rode around the South Beach area. That was a lot of fun despite the 30 mile/ hour speed limits.
During the weekend, we went to look at the Jackie Gleason Theatre, one of the areas attractions. At the time there was a cheerleading competition going on around the corner at the convention centre. We walked in and sat and watched for awhile, it was exactly like the Bring It On movie, if you ever saw that.

Whilst a lot of the shopping area is concentrated on Lincoln Road, further south on Collins Avenue & Washington Avenue they was also plenty, at the 8th street designer district. Anh's favourite store was possibly the Von Dutch store. I picked up my new Von Dutch hat down on Collins.

One of the most well known South Beach areas is Ocean Drive. Along this road which is seaside is the largest part of the Art Deco Historic District. Hotel after hotel along that stretch are original art deco buildings, whilst others have been tore down and in the progress of being rebuilt. This was one of the highlights of Miami Beach. Down Ocean Drive we also had lunch at one of my favourite places, Johnny Rockets.

One of the mansions we looked at on Ocean Drive is Amsterdam Palace, otherwise known as the Versace Mansion. On the front steps here is where Gianni Versace was shot dead several years ago.

On Monday we took the bus back up into Miami and to one of the larger malls there, Aventura Mall. Spent the day there before I went over to Pro Player Stadium at night to go to the Philadelphia Eagles v Miami Dolphins game. The Eagles went on to win their 9th straight game in a close match and it was surprising how many Eagles fans had come to Miami for the game.

By Tuesday we went back down Ocean Drive for the afternoon before departing for the airport and the flight back to New York.

December 9, 2003 [Tuesday]......Nets
Last Sunday I headed over to another Rangers hockey game, this time they were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tonight was a trip over to Jersey to see a New Jersey Nets basketball game as they played the Seattle Supersonics.

December 6, 2003 [Saturday]......Blizzards & Snowstorms
The winter season has now well and truly started in New York with the first snowstorm arriving yesterday. Today it has picked up even more so there are blizzard watches going on in most areas. They say we were in for up to a foot by the end of today - that's a lot of snow. Apparently it costs the city $1million to clear the snow for every inch that falls. They had 1300 snow ploughs out in the streets of New York today and several hundred "salters" or salt spreaders as the salt prevents the snow from accumulating, and worse of all, turning icy.

Yesterday I had taken a walk down to meet Anh for lunch. Walking conditions not ideal, snow everywhere and freezing temperatures. We had lunch in a japanese place near 14th street and watched the snow fall from inside.

Today the snow has built up, ploughs continue to clear roads but not many cars are out. We took the subway up to Rockefeller Plaza to see the huge 75 foot tall Christmas tree that was lit up during the week. It's a monster, they shipped it in from upstate, biggest christmas tree you will ever see. Lots of other decorations around Rockefeller Center and plenty of people out taking photos despite the temperature hovering around the -5 degree mark. After a while your face kind of just goes numb. Its like sitting inside the refridgerator after awhile, except that would probably be warmer.

I actually like it and we walked up around Saks 5th Avenue which has all the Christmas window displays. St Patricks Cathedral had some tall christmas trees also worth a look. A quick stop in at Krispy Kreme and Starbucks (the new peppermint mocha is great) and then it was time to head back home and to the warm.

December 2, 2003 [Tuesday]......On the Red Carpet with Tom Cruise
Took off after work and instead of going to the 23rd street subway stop, I went up to 57th street. I heard a rumour this morning that Tom Cruise's new movie, The Last Samurai, had its New York premiere tonight at the Ziegfeld Theater on 54th street. Not knowing what time it was on, I took at chance and went there. They had the red carpet section on the sidewalk, gallery of photographers on little ladders and some security guys. Since it was lowkey and incredibly cold (it was around -2 degrees) there wasn't a huge crowd of onlookers. I waited around ignoring any calls for non-ticket holders to move on and stood out the front entrance.

Tom Cruise arrived and then spent the next 20+ minutes on the red carpet doing interviews. With such low security, I decided to join back on the queue to get in to the theater as it was just the otherside of the red carpet area and only say 5 metres from where Tom Cruise was. I stayed there for several minutes before getting too close to the security check entrance and had to go back to the sidewalk area. Unfortunately, Penelope Cruz was not there tonight. By then someone wellknown called Mary had arrived as the camera flashes were going crazy and all the photographers on ladders were yelling out "Mary! up here!....Mary! up here!". I still don't know who Mary is.

So TC went inside, and I headed back downtown to Barnes & Noble on 19th street where photographer Patrick McMullan held a discussion and signing of his new book "so80s" a huge collection of all the shots he took of celebrities in the 80s that he became known for. Armed with my signed copy and $65 later I was off back home, by which time it was down to -4 degrees.

December 1, 2003 [Monday]......Monday Night on Monday Night
One big tradition with NFL football is the nationally teleevised Monday Night Football game. I went to the Jets v Tennessee Titans game tonight as my first MNF game. The crowd was crazy getting buses out to Jersey and the stadium, meaning by the time I arrived the game had started. It was a much colder night than recently, so sitting out in the stands in 0 - 2 degrees before the windchill factor was damn cold. I had 4 layers on, scarf & beanie and it was still cold. You know its cold when most of the guys at the game are buying hot chocolate instead of beer at halftime.

The lowly Jets had a great game against the division leading Titans and won in an upset which made it all the more enjoyable and worth the night out in the cold.