On Saturday my son Tim and I decided we would take a train trip from Britomart to Sylvia Park. Actually we were going to go from Mt Eden but the Western Line was closed for completion of the double tracking. There’s something vaguely international about travelling on the train especially when the train heads up the wrong line! ”Excuse me, I asked to go to Sylvia Park – it might have been helpful if you’d mentioned we were on the wrong train”. ”You’ll need these – get off at Otahuhu and the train to Sylvia Park will arrive 4 minutes later”. So armed with our transfer tickets we headed to Otahuhu.
New York New York, I love you is a series of short films about, unsurprisingly, New Yorkers, and love. It’s a bit predictable but pretty funny and the briefness of the stories kept my attention. It’s got a Seinfeld feel to parts of it “why does the pharmacist have to be two and a half feet higher than the rest of us?” went though my mind. The old couple out on a day trip to deserted Coney Island on their 63rd wedding anniversary could have been straight from The Sopranos – what do you do if the person you are walking with across the street is simply too slow to make it by the time the lights change? Well the wife kept on walking and he just put his hand up and stopped the traffic. Good call.
A lesson too for Casanova. Be careful about who you try and seduce. They might end up being more of a professional than you. That was funny.
Four minutes on the train station at Otahuhu were almost sureal. Where is that place? It’s like some deserted platform on the outskirts of Chicago during the height of the great depression. I must go back – the potential for photography is outstanding. The views towards the Manukau Harbour as the sun lowering in the sky are stunning.
I wonder why the train station at Sylvia Park isn’t integrated properly into the Centre. That would make it more appealing and a lot easier for old folk out on day trip. I’m not sure I’d drag my Mum through all this. But if I did I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t leave her to fend the traffic off on her own!
The movie: I liked it.
