tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149448268675417412024-02-08T03:33:49.852-08:00Heard it through the BambooJustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619957135321838149noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14944826867541741.post-82960013171539204482009-09-12T07:25:00.000-07:002009-09-12T07:26:04.306-07:00Quick thoughts on DCGot at the Reagan National Airport at 5:00am. flight doesn't leave <br>until 11:00am. Got no headphones or magazine/books to read. All I have <br>is my iPhone, what a good time to blog. Why did I get here so early? <br>Had to drop off the rental and drop Gabe and Mark off so they can <br>catch the Amtrak to Baltimore.<br>I loved DC! Just the architecture and sculptures it has all over the <br>city. My favorite has to be the sculpture of Neptune(God of the Sea) <br>in front of the library of congress. Not just because of the nymphs <br>sitting on horses the way Jupiter sent them to this earth. Something <br>about the whole sculpture just seems so powerful. That's how DC felt <br>for me.<br>Gabe, Mark, and I had time before we had to catch the bus to New York <br>to check out DC for a min'. We started off with Union Square thinking <br>it was Dupont Circle(where the bus was to pick us up). We saw the <br>Capital building down the street, so decided to take a walk. Got up to <br>the capital, took our pics and decided to just keep walking. We <br>probably hit all the buildings and sculptures surrounding the capital.<br>My last day for my vacation we were able to tour DC again. We started <br>off with a personel tour of the capital from the best tour guide.... <br>DC Dan. My cousin works for DHS and got us in the underground entrance <br>to the capital. It was awesome walking through and not having to wait <br>for a tour guide and the 20 people they have to take through. One word <br>that I can describe the capital is Amazing. History has always been my <br>favorite subject in school, so I found everything fascinating. Did you <br>know that Brigham Young is in the Nations Capital? Well he is, as one <br>of Utahs statues.<br>After the capital we stopped by a few of the Smithsonians. The first <br>museum we stopped by was the Air and Space Museum. This was the museum <br>that we heard a lot about, so we wanted to check it out. The second <br>and my favorite was the American History Museum. They have a lot of <br>cool objects from sports, movies, and history. My favorite object had <br>to have been Grand Master Flash's Turntable. I wish we had more time, <br>but we got there about a little less than an hour of closing time.<br>We then decided to walk to the Washington Monument. We have seen the <br>monument the whole trip, got a lot of pictures but never walked up to <br>it. After the Washington I had to go to the Lincoln Monument in honor <br>of my dad. Growing up I always remembered my dad as a Lincoln Fan. <br>This monument lived up to my expectations. It was the only monument <br>that was packed with people.<br>We were about to catch the Metro back Virginia, but remembered.... The <br>White House! We could not visit DC and not visit the White House. So <br>we did another walk and came up to the White House. Or what we thought <br>was the White House. Good thing we googled imaged it and came to the <br>conclusion that it was not the White House. So we walked about <br>another 50 yards and finally got to Obamas House. All we got was a <br>small view from the fence. I don't know if there is anywhere closer <br>you can get to the White House, but security was tight because it was <br>Sept. 11. My favorite part about the White House was the snipers on <br>top of the roof.<br>DC was a really cool city. Good city to visit if you are a history <br>buff. A place I would like to take my kids to someday. This has been a <br>well deserved trip. Good and relaxing even after the miles and miles <br>of walking. Thanks Gabe and Mark for the company. And thank you Teela <br>for setting everything up for us. I love you!Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619957135321838149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14944826867541741.post-10461486033396452142009-09-12T03:13:00.001-07:002009-09-12T03:13:40.231-07:00Citi FieldLike I said in my Yankee Stadium post, I was not too excited about <br>about seeing Citi Field. Yes, the Mets are my National League team. <br>Yes, I've heard that Citi Field was the nicer of the two new stadiums <br>in New York. But this whole season has been one big disappointment for <br>us Mets fans. Ok I think it started way before this season with them <br>blowing the last two seasons and missing the playoffs. This season was <br>different however. Injuries! I bought my tickets the early parts of <br>July. Knowing my favorite current baseball player Jose Reyes is out <br>with an injury. Knowing Carlos Delgado just had surgery. But they <br>still have Wright, Beltran, Santana, Castillo. Reyes been out since <br>May with a pulled hamstring, he should be back by Sept. right? Mid- <br>July Beltran goes out with a leg injury making a diving catch. Three <br>weeks to go to the trip and Wright gets beaned right in the dome, out <br>with concussion. Around the same time Castillo is walking into the <br>dug-out, slips and sprains his ankle. One week to go and Santana needs <br>surgery on his arm. Reports that Delgado will be back by late <br>August... Failed! Turns out Reyes hamstring was more serious than <br>they thought and will need surgery. Finally the Tues. before the trip <br>Wright is back in the lineup. So were on the 7 as we pull up. It's <br>beautiful, from the Jackie Robinson Rotunda through the whole park. <br>Now the fans weren't as crazy as the "creatures," but this is the way <br>I enjoy baseball. I know a lot of people find it boring, but I've been <br>able to sit through full games since I was a kid. I guess that what I <br>get for being raised by a baseball dad. We get in our seats in left <br>field. Much closer view than our Yankee seats. I get the best news all <br>day, Beltran returns to the Mets lineup. It was a pretty good game, a <br>part inside of me cheered when Hanley Ramirez blasted a homer that <br>missed the 2nd deck by a couple of feet. The real excitement came in <br>the 7th. Bases loaded and 1 out, down by 2. Who's at the plate? David <br>Wright.... Strikout. Seriously? You couldn't just fly out for a <br>sacrifice? Make this a 1 point game? All these questions running <br>through my mind. We got one more shot though, Carlos Beltran. Crack, <br>he hits a shot out to right. This ball is gone if it just stays fair. <br>The righfider is at the wall and makes the catch. This was the highest <br>and farthest ball I have ever seen and it still didn't make it out of <br>the field. If this was at Yankee Stadium, it would have been 16th row <br>back easily, perhaps even farther. Just like that nothing else happens <br>the rest of the game and Mets lose 4-2. Although they lost I still had <br>a lot of fun and hope I can make many of returns to Citi Field. I got <br>my souviner baseball with inagural Citi Field Season insignia on it. <br>So I went back to the hotel happy. Hopefully the next time I see them, <br>they will all be healthy and win.Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619957135321838149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14944826867541741.post-20412925735189442122009-09-11T19:07:00.001-07:002009-09-11T19:07:12.336-07:00Yankee StadiumA couple months ago I told Teela that were going to visit every current <br>(of the time whenever we make the trip out to that city) MLB baseball <br>stadium. To my suprise she agreed. Teela hates baseball(but she <br>admitted to me it's because she doesn't understand it), but she loves <br>to travel. So that's her way of traveling with me. We were headed out <br>to DC and she tells me there is a bus that goes up to NY from DC. I <br>look up the dates and what do you know? Both the Mets and Yankees <br>will be in town. I can get two stadiums off my list pretty fast. <br>Unfortunately Teela could not make it up to NY, because of bridesmaid <br>duties. She is always putting others before herself. So I dragged Gabe <br>and Mark along with me. I knew they would be interested in the cities, <br>but both weren't baseball fans. Yankee Stadium was first on our list. <br>Now, originally I only really cared about seeing the Mets and was <br>going to go pretty cheap on Yankees tickets. But....... There is soooo <br>much history with this franchise you don't have to like them, but you <br>gotta' respect them. So I spent a little extra and got some decent <br>seats. About a month to go for the trip and I found myself wanting to <br>go more to Yankee Stadium than my beloved National League team's Citi <br>Field. I knew I had to get there early so I could catch Monument Park. <br>Due to that this was the 2nd game of a double header, Monument Park <br>was closed. The 2nd biggest disappointment of the New York trip(1st <br>was that the Mets lost the game I went to). Just walking up to the <br>stadium you could feel the hype from the fans. Even Gabe felt it, he <br>really got into it and was asking questions the whole time. So we get <br>to the stadium and recieved mini replica stadiums for being the first <br>so many people through the gates. I need a souviner from every park I <br>visit, so I decided to go with baseballs with the team logo. Seeing <br>how this was the new Yankee Stadiums first year, the ball had the <br>inagural new Yankee Stadium symbol on it. We get to our seats, a <br>little more in to right than right center. They were pretty decent <br>with the view, but were awesome with the crowd. We were right in the <br>middle of the "Bleacher Creatures!". These guys were ridiculous! They <br>started the game with a roll call of every player on the field, and <br>would continue until that player who they were calling would <br>acknowledge them back. Johnny Damon had the best one as he pulled a <br>"Hulk Hogan" type of point back to the creatures. These creatures <br>were ruthless as they would egg on the opposing team and my favorite <br>chant.....<br>"Box Seats Suck!"<br>The crowd would go off for Derrick Jeter chanting his name and "MVP" <br>as Jeter was only 4 hits away from breaking Lou Gehrig's all time <br>Yankee hits record. Even though Jeter didn't get a hit the rest of the <br>Bronx Bombers lived up to thier name beating the Rays 11-1. Texiera <br>went yard twice. I left happy because the only Yankee I really care <br>about "Godzilla" Matsui went 2-3(don't quote me on that). All in all <br>I had a real good experience at Yankee Stadium catching all that <br>history and fanaticism, it really sucks you in. *note- if you ever go <br>to Yankee Stadium. Never wear another teams hat. Especially if your <br>sitting with the Bleacher Creatures. Poor mets fan got it bad(no I <br>wasn't dumb enough to wear my mets hat there). Also if sitting with <br>the creatures.. Do not leave before the end of the game. You get booed <br>too.Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619957135321838149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14944826867541741.post-55014871542445699432009-09-10T23:22:00.001-07:002009-09-10T23:22:25.229-07:00The New York ExperienceNew York, New York big city of dreams.... BIG DREAMS! I found that <br>out the first night in Time Square.<br>"Hey Chief, where you from"?<br>Coming from the next big Hip Hop star(riiiight).<br>"Utah."<br>"Oh (expletive) I love Utah. John Stockton to Karl Malone. Yo, I'm <br>trying to be the next big thing. What's your name"?<br>"Justin"<br>"J-money(as he signs a cd). I'm just looking for any type of donation <br>to help me out."<br>I love music! As an aspiring DJ and Bassist, I thought I could help <br>another wannabe musician(like myself) out by donating a couple of <br>bucks. Biggest mistake of my life. I didn't know every New Yorker was <br>a rapper. Soon as I pulled out some money, I swear evey single rapper <br>on Manhatten could smell it.<br>"How bout mines? And mines."<br>I spent about 15 dollars on cd's I will probably never like and listen <br>to more than once. The worst part about it all is I can't take them to <br>FYE and trade em' in. I learned my lesson after that. No more <br>donations! About another 20 rappers came up to me and instead of <br>CDs, we got told to visit 20 myspace pages(because of no donations).<br>Time Square is crazy and it's only worse at night. We got the the city <br>about 7:30ish, and as soon as we stepped off the bus you enter the sea <br>of people. You can't walk anywhere without rubbing shoulders with <br>anyone else. It was dark and we had no clue on where we were going. <br>We decided to follow the big bright lights we saw a couple blocks <br>down. On the way there we saw every type of drum set you can think of, <br>spiderman, bboys, and an epic battle between Michael Jackson and <br>Batman. We finally hit the bright lights and you swear it was day again.<br>My whole life I've heard that New Yorkers were rude and they did not <br>dissapoint. I can't say all New Yorkers are rude, actually most were <br>pretty nice. If we had questions with the subway, everyone we asked <br>was pretty helpful. I would say the only rude people were the cops and <br>the ones working in retail. As long as you mind your own business, <br>they will leave you alone.<br>It was 11:00pm and I got a headache and no hotel for the first night. <br>We all thought it's the city that never sleeps and I can pull an all <br>nighter no problem. Everything changes when you have a headache. <br>Especially when a bottle of 20 ibuprofen cost 5 ducks! So I popped <br>some pills and thought to myself this is going to be a long night. We <br>decided to get tickets and chill at the HA Comedy Club. Best decision <br>of the night. Out of 5 acts there was about 2 1/2 funny people, but it <br>took us to 2:00am and my headache went away. Everything after that was <br>downhill. Time flew by the rest of the way. Tried to get on Good <br>Morning America, but the damn people from Texas and their big signs <br>(even the homemade signs are big in Texas) got in the way of my face.<br>That took us to 9:00am and we decided to try our luck with the subway. <br>The iPhone made our trip a whole lot easier. It mapped out every <br>subway we needed to take and didn't fail is once.<br>Check in wasn't suppose to be til' 1:00pm, but we were exhausted and <br>tried our luck to get an early check in. Money talks and for an extra <br>$35 we got our room around 9:30ish. By 10:00 we were all out. Woke up <br>by 4:00pm and headed to Yankee Stadium(I'll have my own post for the <br>baseball games later).<br>We get back to Brooklyn about 11ish and it's dark. I'm feeling a <br>little uneasy bout the walk back to the hotel. You see all the films <br>and hear songs about New York and it's neighborhood "stoops". You all <br>know what goes on on the stoops too. That is no myth, we had crowds <br>whistling and hollering at across the street. We didn't pay attention, <br>but I think we started to speed walk a little. Next night was a lot <br>easier cuz' we had some girls behind us and they got all the <br>hollering. Something about the East Coast I've noticed is that I don't <br>think there is an ugly girl to an east coast guy. They check out <br>everybody. Girls who don't even register on Gabe and Marks number <br>system get whistled and looked up and down like they were a 4 piece <br>spicy chicken meal with some sides of red beans and rice, mash <br>potatoes, and coleslaw from Popeyes.<br>Besides baseball we just walked and experienced the metropolitan city <br>life. We got to see ground zero. It wasn't what I expected in a sense <br>that I was hoping for a better view. Couldn't see much because of the <br>fcnces and construction of the new tower. However it was very touching <br>and flashbacks rolled in my head of Sept.11,2001. A senior in high <br>school, a day I'll never forget. We were there the 9th of Sept. Almost <br>8 years to the date it happened. Crazy! As of New York..... I loved <br>it, I love city life. I don't know if I could living there, but it's a <br>place I can see myself visit again and again. Which was suprising to <br>me. I always wanted to visit beacuse it's New York. I just thought I <br>wouldn't really care or enjoy it. My mind has changed and it's up <br>there as one of Justins greatest cities in the USofA.Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10619957135321838149noreply@blogger.com0