Fellow Sailors

1. Hmmm, I've lived in NYC for over 25 years, and I didn't know this Book Store existed. It's on the upper east side near the MET.

"Tucked away inside the French Embassy’s Payne Whitney mansion on NYC’s Upper East Side, Albertine Books is one of New York City’s best-kept secrets—and now, it’s getting global recognition as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world by book-loving travel guide 1000 Libraries.

Walk through its grand doors and you’ll find yourself beneath a breathtaking zodiac-painted ceiling, surrounded by elegant dark wood, celestial murals, and more than 14,000 French and English titles. It’s the only bookstore in New York City dedicated entirely to French-language works and translations, making it a true cultural gem for literature lovers."

I foresee a trip to the Met, the bookstore, and a gluten free bakery with croissants in my future. All on the upper east side. Along with a foray into Central Park. It's been a long time since I've gone. I tend to spend most of my time in Brooklyn.

Note to non-New Yorkers? The City = Manhattan. Brooklyn is Brooklyn, Bronx is the Bronx, Queens is Queens, and Staten Island is Staten Island. Long Island is Long Island. Upstate - is basically everywhere NORTH of the City and the Bronx. But Manhattan to New Yorkers is referred to as simply - "the City", and everyone knows what you are talking about.

Gotta love a French Book store - I can actually read rudimentary French.

2. Saw a letter from Betrand Russell to Sir Oswald about fascism on Face Book, posted by Rahael. (It reminded me of why I liked Betrand Russel - who I read a lot of in the 1980s.)

Betrand Russell's artful letter refusing to debate British Fascist Leader Oswald Mosely

(A character based on Mosely was also featured (deservingly so) as a villain in the last season of Peaky Blinders.)

3. Apparently they are starting a Robot Taxi program in NYC this fall.
The Taxi and Limousin Commission is understandably upset about it.

" New Yorkers are about to meet a new kind of traffic jam companion: the robotaxi. Beginning in September, Waymo, the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company, will put its self-driving cars on the streets of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn.

Before you panic about an empty driver’s seat whizzing down Flatbush, rest assured: State law requires a trained specialist behind the wheel at all times. So yes, there will still be a human gripping the steering wheel while the car quietly does most of the thinking."

As someone who cannot drive - I find the news of self-driving vehicles kind of reassuring? On the other hand - I can already imagine the confusion of more than one person telling the car where they want to go. Not sure how that will work? Just that I'm very glad I rarely, if ever, take any sort of motorized vehicle in the city. I just do subways and walking, thank you very much.

4. Details on Depart Q S2 on Netflix.