M&M&MoMA

Columbia University

I would use a Dave Barry quote, but I did that a week ago. I went to New York again today, this time through the Penn side of things. We took the bus there. On the way there, I read a book discussing a Norse kviða (Skaldic poetry), with Tolkien's rewritten version.  I loved the view as we approached the city. After we got there, I had a Manhattan bagel. It was extremely delicious. I walked over to Columbia University with a friend and fellow student, Connor. I discussed various works of literature with him. He particularly liked House of Leaves and Only Revolutions, both by Mark Danielewski. They really seem to push the boundaries of what literature really is. House of Leaves takes place with a narrator reading a documentary of a movie that does not exist. Only Revolutions is two parallel stories, each going through the book in opposite directions. We relaxed and talked at Columbia for quite a while. 

Next, we took the bus to Times Square. For lunch, we had some pizza, at Ray's Pizza. While the place we went to claimed to be the original, it was founded in 1964. Wikipedia claims that the first was actually founded in 1959. From there, we went to the M&M store. It was a three story building devoted to M&Ms. It was rather ridiculous. There were massive M&M statues, and M&M merchandise. I got about half a pound of M&Ms. We then went to the massive Toys "R" Us. The place was massive. There was a ferris wheel inside. There were lego buildings 10 feet high. There was an enormous amount of plastic stuff for sale. It was an interesting insight into American culture. For centuries, most of the population has been devoted to producing food. Now, a large amount of the population is devoted to consumerism. I would never want so much plastic stuff. There are about 100,000 square feet devoted to selling stuff. I am amazed at the sheer size of consumerism.

Live wind map

After seeing all the consumerism, I needed a break. It was sweltering outside. The Hudson River flows at about 20,000 cubic feet per second. About 95% of this is people's sweat. To escape from the heat, we went into an air conditioned Starbucks. We relaxed here for a while, but I soon wanted to keep on exploring. It turns out that the NY MoMA is free if you are 16 or under. Modern art is fascinating. While you do get a few things like vacuum cleaners sitting there, you also get extremely interesting things. I particularly liked the design section. In it, there was a device built to cheaply trigger mines, so as to make areas safer. It blows across the landscape, but it is heavy enough to trigger the mines. There was also a live map of wind in the US. As a programmer, my personal favorite was the game section. It had several interesting video games. It had Pac-man and Tetris. There was also a game called Passage. In it, you went through the stages of life. I really liked the concept. There was also one that generated levels based on the music you put in. There was also a game that I play, called Dwarf Fortress. It is the most complex game I have ever seen. The world is modeled incredibly deeply. Nations rise and fall, but it also had an intricate medical system. It is the game that inspired Minecraft. It has accurate geology. It has complex fluid mechanics. I really like it because of its levels of complexity.  Unfortunately, the museum closed. I had another bagel for dinner (those bagels are just too delicious). From there, it was back to the bus. We got back to Penn at about 8:30. I was extremely tired. I may have been to NY before, but I enjoyed this time as well. I got to see new and different things.

A video of people sweeping trash into a clock