When Servers Go Down

It wasn’t until nearly 6:30, and after I’d done all my weather hits, that someone discovered what was wrong. Like flipping a switch the missing graphics magically appeared.

By the time I got to work Thursday Dave, one of our maintenance techs, was already replacing the “C:\” drive on the weather server. It’s a machine called Metline. It is our master filing cabinet fed by a satellite delivered firehose of data. Up and running 24/7/365 it is constantly storing new and deleting old info.

Let me take a step back. At work we are fed nearly every bit of weather data imaginable. Need to know the current condtions in Singapore? just open a small terminal window and enter “sa wsss.” It’s there. So is everything else.

When this system was first installed there was no Internet, so our vendor fed the maps, text and images to an uplink facility (actually two totally separate facilities via totally separate paths) where it bounced off a satellite and back to a few dishes on the roof of the TV station. The data pipe we see is about T-1 sized and constantly full of bits headed our way.

Unlike the Internet we don’t ask for specific data to be delivered. We get everything!

Back to the Metline. It had begun to act up. A request for data which should be filled on-the-spot started to take 20-30 seconds to show up. The machine was strangely incommunicado during that time. Computers never heal themselves. They are only capable of getting worse!

Bruce, in Madison, WI and working for the vendor that sold us the system, thought a hard drive might be going. It was sent to us overnight. Now you understand why Dave was swapping hardware.

The drive went in fine and the whole backup process went smoothly in not much more than 90 minutes. Unfortunately parts of the system that worked before the swap didn’t work now! The ability to take data and contour it was gone and airtime was approaching.

During our 90 minute newscast I was assisting Dave, who knew the hardware but not the software, and the folks in Madison, and also sporadically appearing on-the-air. Oh–I also had to work around the graphics I’d usually use which were unavailable.

It wasn’t until nearly 6:30, and after I’d done all my weather hits, that someone discovered what was wrong. Like flipping a switch the missing graphics magically appeared.

The more computers you have the more likely it is something will go wrong on any given day. At work I manage around 15 PCs. There’s always something not working. you’ve got to learn to adapt on-the-fly.

I Love The Night

This time of year the sky is already brightening and the birds chirping when I go to sleep, usually close to 5:00 AM.

I was out on the back deck a moment ago. It’s quiet and cool tonight – in the mid-50s. Overhead, the sky is ablaze with stars, made all the brighter by the dry air. It’s the perfect night.

I love the night. I thrive at night. I know it’s unusual.

I try to go to bed early – really. It just never happens. There’s always a reason to stay up a little later. This time of year the sky is already brightening and the birds chirping when I go to sleep, usually close to 5:00 AM.

I do my best work at night. It’s when I studied my Mississippi State courses. It’s when I write most blog entries. It’s when I power watch TV. I never play my MythTV DVR during the day.

I am limited in the noise I can make. My office is next to the bedroom. Helaine is asleep long before I get home. Every once-in-a-while I’ll make too much noise and wake her. That’s a problem.

Stef is up late, but not this late. Last night we were talking and she finally begged off around 2:00 AM. She cited the time as she kicked me out. And I thought, “that’s not too late.”

I have the world to myself late a night. Until the newspapers are delivered, few cars pass down our streetlight free road. Often I hear animals passing through the yard. We’ve got your typical crew of suburban critters: deer, rabbits, moles, chipmunks, field mice, foxes, even the occasional wild turkey. There have been reports of bears in my neighborhood this spring. Oh my.

When Stef was a little girl, she called me to the driveway where she said a bird was in distress. Sure enough, when I got there the bird was flailing around. After a few moments I realized Steffie had caught the bird coupled with another bird in “flagrante delicto.” When she reads this, she will know the truth for the first time.

Last week, right outside my 2nd floor window, a cat began to scream out as if he was in the fight of his life. Maybe he was?

My friend Farrell and I had our best conversations this time of day, back when he was in Singapore. We’d get on IM and chat. When we were done, I’d be going to sleep at about the same time he was leaving work! Back home in Palm Springs, three hours behind Connecticut, there are fewer common hours for contact between us.

A few times a year, I hit the 24-hour Stop and Shop grocery store on the way home. The all night crew is just starting and there are often roadblocks as still packed boxes sit in the middle of the aisle. Bad time for meat buying. Good time for last minute birthday and other cards. In-and-out in just a few minutes.

Helaine knows. I’m not divulging a secret.

TV sucks this time of day. There are too few of us to ‘waste’ any decent programming. Often, I can click through the cable universe passing infomercial-after-infomercial-after-infomercial without any real programs. I’m not cheery enough to host an infomercial. It’s an art.

I’m not a night evangelist. It’s best for me if you don’t share my hours. The night is best left alone.

The Ex-Pat Life, or Farrell Meisel – Man Of Mystery

He called me to offer me a job. It was August 1980. It was the same day I met Helaine. We’re still friends. Helaine and me too.

My first contact with Farrell Meisel was on the phone. He called me to offer me a job, in Buffalo, hosting PM Magazine. It was August 1980. It was the same day I met Helaine.

We’re still friends. Helaine and me too.

Farrell’s no longer in US TV. Nowadays he brings his TV expertise to foreign station owners.

He launched the first commercial channel in Russia, for Ted Turner, following the fall of the USSR in 1992, has done consulting in Turkey, ran a huge cluster of radio and TV networks in Singapore, inaugurated Alhurra, the US government funded Arab language TV station for the Mideast, and ran a TV station in Warsaw, Poland. I’m sure I’ve left something out.

At the moment, his consulting hat is on again. He’s in Bucharest, Romania.

Farrell is an ex-pat, the slang term for a foreign national abroad. He seems most comfortable in that role.

To me, the ex-pat life is a throwback to the 50s, with more structure and formality than modern day America. It is a life where there is still customer service and where men are addressed as “sir.”

Obviously, this is all a guess. I don’t even have a valid passport.

Yesterday, Farrell sent me some observations from Romania. I asked him if I could share?

Every city I’ve visited or worked in is unique, special and odd in its own way. It’s not a criticism, but a simple observation. You’d think, with all the traveling, I would have seen it all.

Bucharest has surprised me, too.

There aren’t enough parking spaces and lots in the city, so drivers create their own parking places!

For example: they just park in the middle of the street. That’s right, why park on the side when they can just park their car in the middle of the street or in front of another car, blocking a car?

They also park on side walks. Not just one or two cars, but several. Last night, there were three rows of cars parking on a side street, horizontally around the corner from my apart-hotel. Not in an assigned spot, but on the street.

I found it amazing that my driver, Nelu, could squeeze the company’s VW Passat through the narrow space between cars.

It is simply brilliant. Now I know why Romania is in the EU!

I laughed in amazement and had to explain to to Nelu why I was laughing. He said, “but, sir, this is Bucharest. Since the revolution we have no rules”.

Bucharest has a tram system like many classic European cities. Many of the routes are over unruly green grounds (the grass not cut due to underfunding by the government), but several parts of the routes are on pavement. Since traffic is so bad, and there are only 2 lanes on each side of the main streets, what do drivers do? Simple: They drive on the rails in front of or behind the trams!

This morning was the best. There must have been at least a dozen cars naturally driving on the center medium on one of the main lines in the center in the city . And the trams could not go anywhere.

I must have my camera ready later today or in tomorrow’s rush hour. Simply perfect.

Bucharest, Romania traffic

Bucharest, Romania traffic

Bucharest, Romania traffic

Come On Down


Let me tell you something about Matt Scott, fellow meteorologist at the TV station. He LOVES game shows. Matt is obsessed. That’s why it was no surprise when he asked me, last week, if I’d like to go to Foxwoods to see The Price Is Right Live tonight.

TPIR Live is an offshoot of the TV show. There’s a version playing semi-permanently in Las Vegas and another show which travels. That’s the one that was here tonight.

If he had his druthers, Matt would be hosting a game show right now. Seriously, now, as you’re reading this. Of course he’d have to fight me for it. Hell, I even offered to host a game show in Singapore (an offer that was not accepted, much to my dismay).

Frustration aside, we both thought this might be fun and it was.

The live version was hosted at the Fox Theater at Foxwoods, which seats around 1,400. We got our tickets and signed in around 5:00 PM.

Yes, you sign in. Someone really does take a Sharpie and put your name on a sticky price tag. Yes, I wore mine. Matt wore his too.

We had split for dinner (Steakhouse – excellent) and returned to the theater a little before the 7:00 PM show time. The place was packed. Up front, ushers were leading the crowd in a cross between calisthenics and cheerleading.

The Price Is Right is a show dependent on the collective power of its studio audience. This group would be primed.

At 7:00 PM the announcer came out, continuing the warm-up and keeping the audience up. Clips of Bob Barker and the long running&#176 Price Is Right showed on large screens.

A few minutes later came ‘the’ music. You know it. You can hum it. Edd Kalehoff’s timeless theme music was blasting through the theater.

And then, they came on down!

Finally, an introduction for the host, and Roger Lodge appeared. Thin and of medium height, he was wearing a dark suit and carrying a stick microphone.

It wasn’t Bob Barker, but no one minded. Lodge hosted Blind Date in syndication, so he was a reasonably known commodity. He was their celebrity host and they embraced him.

The actual show lasted over an hour and a half. Each pricing game had a new set of four contestants. Lots of people won $25 in free slot play, which was doled out like sand at the beach.

As for the larger prizes, I’m really not sure how much was given away. An excited woman won $525 on PLINKO. I wanted to yell at her when she dropped one puck from the far edge of the game.

Oh yeah, PLINKO was there as was the big wheel and that Astroturf putting green. The set, somewhat worn from travel, was a dead ringer for the on-air set (which also looks a little tired when seen live).

The show ended with the Showcase Showdown in which both contestants overbid (one by over $25,000)! Neither won the 4-day Carnival Cruise nor the Honda FIT (a car I’d never heard of before tonight). Still, the audience left happy.

It’s probably time to say nice things about Roger Lodge, and I will. He did an excellent job as the host. It’s a job that’s significantly more difficult than it looks.

You’re not only hosting, you’re the guest wrangler – trying to make sure the contestants are entertaining.

Matt had arranged for us to see the backstage area. The producer, Chris, was ready to take us when Roger appeared to join us. He could not have been nicer.

I wouldn’t have been surprised to run into jerk! This is a position that could easily attract an ass, especially after a long run on-the-road.

He was friendly and talkative and obviously proud of his body of work. I always thought he was very funny on Blind Date. He was very good at this too.

We said our goodbyes and Matt and I headed to the car.

As some sort of wannabe intellectual, I should look down my nose at tonight’s adventure. I can’t. I had a genuinely fun time. And, I spent the evening in a room with well over a thousand other people who can say the same thing.

&#176 – Long running, yes. Original, no! Price was on NBC when I was a kid, hosted by Bill Cullen.

The Seasons Turn

It’s not winter yet, but the handwriting is on the wall. Today is chilly – actually closer to raw. We’d been in the 70s and 80s. That’s gone.

The trees are very pretty. The leaves have turned the golden colors of autumn. Unfortunately, that’s the most obvious outward sign they’ve entered the death cycle!

When photographers capture the splendor that is autumn in New England, they always tilt their cameras up. Only the locals see what’s fallen down.

Our back deck, driveway and lawn are littered with dead leaves. That show has just begun. Withing a few weeks it will be tough to see any lawn through the leaf litter. My Saturday morning sleep will be interrupted by the whine of neighbors with leaf blowers.

I got an email today from someone I know in Singapore. She said she missed fall. Easy to say when you’re halfway around the world, living close to the equator in a place that’s uniformly hot and sweaty year round.

Maybe she doesn’t remember the joy of deciding whether you really want to get out of bed to turn the heat on, or rain that cuts directly to your core, chilling you instantly.

OK, so I’m not a romantic.

Before long the snow will be flying. In years past, it’s already snowed by October 25th. Maybe that’s what has me down about the fall. I’ve seen this movie before. I know what comes next.

Calling France – Bonjour Farrell

How much does it cost to call France? Don’t answer yet.

Stef has an assignment for a journalism course. She has to compare media in the United States with media in another country. I know two people who’ve worked in media in Singapore. I suggested she choose that. Contacts are invaluable.

My friend Farrell, who now runs a TV network in Poland, used to run stations in Singapore. Usually we talk on the computer, using IM or email. To ask some questions for Stef, I figured I’d call.

It’s not that easy.

There’s a broadcasters’ convention currently underway in Cannes, France. Farrell is there.

He gave me his phone number, tapping it out on his Blackberry via IM and I called the hotel… but instead of getting it, I got a recording telling me my call couldn’t go through and I should check with my system administrator.

That’s me! I hate when that happens.

A quick call to my VOIP phone provider, Broadvoice (where tech support answered on the FIRST RING!!!) brought an equally quick answer. Buried two menus deep on their website was a checkbox allowing international calls on my account. The box was unchecked.

When you call a hotel in France, they answer in French. I don’t know enough to ask for a room, so I panicked and blurted out my request in English. The operator totally understood.

“Merci,” I said… though probably too late for her to hear. Farrell picked up a second later.

I have to say, the quality of this call was very impressive. Because I was typing notes, I had him on the speakerphone. Helaine commented he sounded better than if he were on my cellphone.

So, how much for the call? My plan, Broadvoice’s least expensive, is $9.95 per month for unlimited calls to Connecticut. International is extra.

Ready?

Each minute to France was 3&#162! That’s crazy.

I remember, in 1967, when AT&T totally overhauled its rate structure for domesticlong distance calls. Station-to-station, direct dial calls within the United States went down to 10&#162 per minute as long as the call was placed after 11:00 PM or on the weekend.

We live in amazing times for technology.

Must Be The Ears

27 Dec ’05, 9.43pm EST

Originally uploaded by geoff_fox.

Helaine has asked me to write something else about Sydney. She’d like to see something every day while we’re ‘sitting.’ My guess is, this is reassurance to Amy and Rob, who left Sydney in our hands.

So, I stared… and then I stared some more.

Sydney doesn’t get around much. If you’re waiting for Sydney to do something outlandishly cute – it’s not gonna happen.

I stared some more.

Mostly, while Sydney is prone, all her parts fall into place. She becomes aerodynamic in a quiet doggy kind of way. Tonight there was something different.

Sydney has huge ears! I’m not talking large. These babies are supersized!

In a strong wind, Sydney could give Sally Field (as the Flying Nun) a run for her money. She might have even climbed into the rarefied strata of “The Flying Dutchman,” the host of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” in Singapore. He very well might have the world’s largest ears (and hopefully, for him, best hearing).

Anyway, here’s Sydney’s daily entry and photo. All is well in this dog’s life.


New Haven Advocate Best Of

I was very pleased to hear I’d won the New Haven Advocate’s Best Of Readers’ Poll. Though I usually pick up the Advocate when I get coffee at Roberto’s, I missed the voting issue so I didn’t even have a chance to stuff the ballot box.

That this is a vote by viewers makes it all the more gratifying.

There are some interesting, nearly dubious, honors bestowed. Some categories are split so many ways that you’d better get something. And, I totally understand that the Advocate does this as an advertising booster (look in the print issue and see all the back slapping ads). It’s still nice.

Christopher Arnott, who I’ve known for years, wrote my little blurb – and now I’m blushing.

Tonight is the ‘get your award’ dinner, and I’ll be going. I’ll bring my camera.

Best Local TV Personality

Geoff Fox, WTNH Channel 8

Geoff Fox stops by the Advocate offices in the early afternoon. The energy of the 9-to-5ers in the room is starting to lag, but Fox is wide-eyed, funny, fresh, loud-voiced, glad-handed–the life of the party.

He woke up about an hour earlier. His workday’s just begun.

“Basically I live my life in Hawaiian time. I wake up at noon, and I don’t get home until midnight. I’m used to people calling me and waking me up. I liked it when I had a friend living in Singapore; he’s the only one who’d call me when I was at the right time.”

Geoff Fox has weathered that rough-and-tumble schedule for over 20 years as a weatherman, and he’s been a broadcast professional since 1969. And despite cleaning up annually as Advocate readers’ choice for Best Local TV Personality, he’s still improving his job prospects, studying meteorology for the past three years.

Geoff Fox New Haven Advcoate photo

One thing that makes Geoff Fox so engaging in person is his quick wit, and it’s a skill he’s able to use on the air. “I get to do stand-up. I get to ad-lib. I’m the only one who works without a script.” Some of his best exchanges are with the Channel 8 directors and cameramen; he’s like a comedian who delights in cracking up the house band. “For me, it has a lot to do with growing up watching George Burns, Soupy Sales and Sandy Becker,” TV comics who loved to break the fourth wall and display the nuts and bolts of the TV set.

Offscreen, he engages with viewers via his weblog, for which he’s already penned over 1,100 entries. A self-admitted tech geek, Fox has built a few computers himself, and he has connected another of his passions–poker–to the net by playing an online game through a casino in Costa Rica, almost tripling his initial investment.

It’s a life well lived, on air at 5, 6 & 11 p.m. (plus 10 p.m. on Channel 8’s sister station, WTXX) and “on” constantly from noon until his wee-hours bedtime.

On the same page: Yale wins the Best Local Four-Year College category. Who woulda thunk it?

Blogger’s note: The writeup says I’m on WTXX, but our 10:00 PM news is on WCTX, channel 9 on most cable systems.

Second Debate – Quick Observation

Wow – I love this. Forget who wins or loses. Think about tonight’s debate in the context of the world.

How many other places throughout history could a confrontation like this take place?

A friend of mine used to work in Singapore. After recent elections, the victorious prime minister actually sued his opponent for what was said during the campaign! How does that promote democracy?

This is not a perfect society. We all have feet of clay. Still, tonight especially, I am very proud to be an American.

Living on Hawaiian Time

I don’t know how I got into this. I don’t know how to get out of this… or even if I should. I live my life on Hawaiian time.

I suppose that’s not a bad thing to do if you’re living on Maui, but I’m somewhat removed to the right on most maps.

This time of year Hawaii is 6 hours behind Connecticut. So, when I go to bed at 4:30 AM EDT, it’s really 10:30 PM in Hawaii. When I get out of bed at 1:00 PM, that’s 7:00 AM in Hawaii.

Where this starts becoming a problem is in those pesky interpersonal relationships. Who exactly can I call at 3:00 AM if I’m looking for company? I have a few West Coast friends who are awake, but with my hours I’m often scared to call even them.

Things were great when my friend Farrell was in Singapore. It varies through the year, but they are mostly 12 hours ahead of us. When I would get on the computer at midnight, Farrell would be getting ready for lunch – the next day. I could even call (having found a calling card that made Singapore a few cents a minute).

When you think about it, I’m not really that far out of line. If the average person gets home at 6:00 PM and goes to sleep at 11:30 PM, that’s 5:30 awake at home. I get home around midnight and only stay up for 4-4:30.

People call during the day and are apologetic when they wake me. I can’t complain. You would think it’s safe to call someone at home around noon.

My Wristwatch Obsession

I’m not sure when or where it started. All I know is I have this uncontrollable obsession as far as watches are concerned. I have between 10-15 of them; more than anyone needs.

This addiction has always been easily satisfied while walking down Canal Street in Lower Manhattan. Everything on Canal Street is a knock-off, and I would assume (though how could I really know) watches are no exception.

Years ago I bought a very lightweight, somewhat flimsy Rolex on Canal Street. I wore it, until I saw some real Rolexes, and it faded to sock drawer obscurity. There have been other similar stories.

Over the past few years, the quality of Canal Street watch has grown. What had been $5 and $10 items could now go over $50 (though the low end stuff was still there).

Two or three years ago I bought my first ‘better’ Canal Street watch. It’s a silver toned calendar watch with stopwatch that passes for a Breitling. I think I paid $35… maybe $45. It’s one of my favorite watches to wear.

Over the past few years I’ve looked for a watch that looked like a Breitling digital/analog model. I finally found one on a website that I now know is located in Malaysia. The price was $85 – no checks, no credit cards, just Western Union.

I sent the money and as soon as I did realized what a mistake I had made! I had no recourse, since the Western Union money order is the same as cash. And, even if I did have recourse, it was Malaysia! I’m not sure what language they speak there, but I haven’t been able to identify it after having read Malaysian webpages.

When no watch came after a month or so, I wrote Cal, my contact, to ask what was going on. He put me off, telling me things sometimes take time. When the delay persisted, I got angry, and Cal said he’d just send another.

Looking at Cal’s IP address on his emails (left like fingerprints at a crime scene) it looked like he was in Singapore (though I sent my money to Malaysia). He was stalling me while he got as much business as possible from this website – and then he’d disappear.

Disappointed, I wrote off the $85 to experience. I’ll never do this again.

Then yesterday, the watch came!

It’s a little larger than I would have liked, and not spot on to the pictures I’d seen, but it’s very, very nice. The face is black. The LCD readout a subdued gold. There is a logo of a single seat, combat type, jet airplane on the face. It is substantial in weight, especially the band. The back of the case is slightly convex with fancy tooling.

If it is not real, it sure is a beautiful fake.

I’ll stop and have the band sized on my way into work today.

Quizzzzzzz-master

I was speaking to someone tonight about game show hosts. I’ll let you in on a poorly kept secret – I’ve always wanted to be a game show host.

I remember the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode when Ted is asked to host a game show. Lou, trying to stop him from making the move says, “Ted… is that what you want to be… a quizzzzzz-master?” The “z” in quiz prolonged, to make the point.

That night I yelled at my TV – “YES! I do.”

I’m not sure when or why the job started to appeal to me. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that as host you always knew the answer to questions, even when the contestants didn’t. Maybe it’s because, as a kid growing up in New York City, most of my local TV heroes also hosted game shows.

Back, sometime in the early sixties, I actually went to a live broadcast at 30 Rock. I don’t remember the show, or who the host was. I remember Wayne Howell, the announcer.

Wayne warmed up the audience. Considering my age at the time, it was probably my first experience seeing standup. He was very funny. The jokes were very corny. There is one joke Wayne did that day that I have stolen as my own.

The floor director counted down the time to air, saying “one minute,” “30 seconds,” and finally “10 seconds to go.” At which time without missing a beat, Wayne Howell said, “If you have to.”

The audience screamed, and we were on our way. Forty years later that cheap, little joke still has significance to me. He pulled it off so well.

There have been some excellent hosts. Looking back at the old tapes on Game Show Network, I can see why I loved Match Game’s Gene Rayburn. He was so fast on his feet and always listening, making him topically funny.

Even when he used a contestant’s flub as the butt of his joke, he never came off as anything but nice. It’s easy to make a joke at someone else’s expense and look mean. He was masterful in avoiding that trap.

Bill Cullen was another great host, but in a different way. He was more of a bright everyman. I don’t remember him throwing one liners, but as with Rayburn, he was always listening and responding.

The most important on-air quality for a host to possess is his/her ability to make the audience believe he’s rooting for the contestant. Watch Pat Sajack spin the wheel in the final round – always finding big money. It’s no accident. I think viewers sense Pat is consciously doing that, and subconsciously they like it and him.

Bert Convey was that way too. Though he did a number of shows, I think his best work was on Tattletales. Tattletales was a show where celebrity husbands and their (now divorced or deceased) wives would be quizzed on what they knew about each other. It was similar to, but less low brow, smarmy or sexual than the Newlywed Game. Convery was everyone’s friend, always helping.

I’d like to throw Chuck Barris into this mix for his work on the Gong Show, but I suspect I was watching one very stoned individual who would be incapable to duplicating his performance while straight. I really don’t know that, but it’s my assumption.

And there’s Chuck Woolery, Allen Ludden, Bob Barker, Tom Bergeron, Ken Ober, Regis, and a host of others who’d be offended if they ever came across this site and saw I left out their name. That’s life – get over it.

Without game shows I wouldn’t know about the Michael C. Fina Company or Spiegel – Chicago 60601 or that it was McCormick in the east and Schilling in the west (or was it the other way around) or remember Kathy Lee Gifford as Kathy Lee Johnson, when she was adorable and sang 5 seconds at a time on Name That Tune..

As is often the case in the performing arts, it’s not just the game ,or just the host, but a plethora of interlocking imponderables that make for a success or failure. Chuck Woolery never had the success with Wheel that Pat Sajack does. A number of different hosts tried doing syndicated, nighttime versions of the Price is Right – without success.

I’ve seen Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, from Singapore, hosted by The Flying Dutchman (a morning disk jockey there). Same set, same music, same game. It needed Regis.

Who knows if I’ll ever get the chance? I’d move heaven and Earth. It’s a crap shoot, I suppose. Whether I’m talented or not, being the weatherman in New Haven is probably not a huge selling point. Though I’m immature for my age, it might be said that I’m too old.

I hope I’d be good at it. It would be fun to find out. I think I already know how to play the game.

NYC Blackout Photos

My friend Farrell sent me this, all the way from Singapore. It’s a retrospective of photos from the Northeast Blackout, taken in New York City.

Just click on the box below to see the pictures.

It has been pointed out that ‘photo’s’ shouldn’t have an apostrophe. I agree, but because of the format of the pictures, cannot change it.

So, I guess, spelling does count. Damn!