Ooompa oompa ooompity doomp.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (oh I wish it were the original!) playing in J Hood Wright Park this Friday!

Movie Night in J. Hood Wright Park

Fort Washington Avenue and 174th Street

Come on out for an evening of family fun on the lawn of J. Hood Wright Park, Friday July 31st at 8:30 p.m. Watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, with your friends and neighbors under the stars! Bring a blanket.

Rain cancels.

Neighborhood Parks Calendar

An update of all of the fitness and other interesting programs going on in the parks nearby- all FREE!! Now until August 5th, mark your calendars!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Fitness Walking Programs in Fort Tryon Park
7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Free Tai Chi Lessons
6:30 a.m.–7:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events, Education
Cost: Free

Sidney Horenstein's The Trails of Fort Tryon Park
6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

Sunset Yoga
6:45 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Inwood Shakespeare Festival: Dracula
7:30 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Inwood Astronomy Programs
8:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Education, Kids, Nature
Cost: Free

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Fitness Walking Programs in Fort Tryon Park
7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Inwood Shakespeare Festival: Dracula
7:30 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Joan of Arc Presented by Gorilla Rep
8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Friday, July 31, 2009

Inwood Shakespeare Festival: Dracula
7:30 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Joan of Arc Presented by Gorilla Rep
8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Mike Feller's Inwood Hill Park Nature Walks
8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

Fitness Walking Programs in Fort Tryon Park
8:30 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Early Morning Fishing
9:00 a.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Education, Kids, Nature
Cost: Free

Ethno-Botany
12:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Cultural, Education, Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

Inwood Shakespeare Festival: Dracula
7:30 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Joan of Arc Presented by Gorilla Rep
8:00 p.m.
Gorilla Rep will begin another summer of the finest quality of free theatre in the park…
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Inwood Astronomy Programs
8:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Education, Kids, Nature
Cost: Free

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Garden Walking Tours in Fort Tryon Park
1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

Algonquin Adventure
1:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Cultural, Education, Tours
Cost: Free

Highbridge Photography
1:00 p.m.
Location: Highbridge Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Education, Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

A Concert Celebrating Stan Michels
1:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Joan of Arc Presented by Gorilla Rep
8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: The Arts, Cultural
Cost: Free

Monday, August 3, 2009

Free Sunset Qi Gong Classes
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events, Education
Cost: Free

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Fitness Walking Programs in Fort Tryon Park
7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Free Tai Chi Lessons
6:30 a.m.–7:30 a.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events, Education
Cost: Free

Dyckman Street Valley Exploration with Sidney Horenstein
5:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park
Category: Nature, Tours
Cost: Free

Sunset Yoga
6:45 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Category: Athletic Events
Cost: Free

Inwood Astronomy Programs
8:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
Location: Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
Category: Education, Kids, Nature
Cost: Free

National Night Out against crime

Here are a few events around the area:

National Night Out, America's annual night out against crime.

Tuesday, August 4 - National Night Out at the following locations:

• 34^th Precinct - 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Wallenberg Playground on West 189th Street & Amsterdam Ave.
• 33^rd Precinct -1:00 - 6:00 p.m. at Wright Brothers Playground on West 156th Street & St. Nicholas Ave.

For more information about National Night Out, contact your NYPD precinct Community Affairs officer.

Healthy Living in Harlem

A new and healthy event is on the horizon in nearby Harlem. THe New York Road Runners have been working hard to encourage children and adults all over the city to become more active and are focusing a lot of their efforts in Harlem where they feel their help is needed the most. An event coming up 0n August 22nd is the culmination of a lot of hard work and will hopefully become an annual community event!

Help spread the word about “Healthy Eating & Living” in Upper Manhattan. New York Road Runners, in partnership with HARLEM WEEK and The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce’s Healthy Eating and Healthy Living Initiative, is pleased to offer several special opportunities to those in Upper Manhattan to get fitter and healthier this summer.

Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run and
NYC Family Health Walk-A-Thon

Saturday, August 22. Open to people of all ages and abilities, these events are part of HARLEM WEEK’S 35th anniversary.

“Relieve the Stress” Sessions

Prepare to walk two miles or run 3.1 miles, or just enjoy an hour or two of stress-relieving activity with other health-minded people at four relaxing yet invigorating weekend group sessions: July 26, August 1, August 8, and August 15. The activities are free, and there is no pre-registration.

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NYRR membership fees, race entry fees, and donations support NYRR running programs for nearly 100,000 kids per week, including 6,500 in Harlem. Learn more about NYRR. For more about The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, visit www.Harlemdiscover.com.

NYC Triathlon

Today was the big day for lots of city athletes, the 9th annual NYC Triathlon. It's an Olympic distance Tri which means its a 1500m swim (nearly a mile), 40K bike and a 10K run. Whew. I was a volunteer on the early, early shift- 4am to 9am handing out timing chips and making sure they put them in the right place (ankle). It was brutal getting there at 3:45 but I had a great time and met some really great people. As a volunteer you get guaranteed entry to next year's race which is a big deal because the race usually sells out in under 10 seconds once online reg opens! Insane. Anyhow since chip distribution was located right along the rivers edge, I got some great shots and had a front row "seat" to the swimming portion. It was intense and somewhat gross (we saw the trash floating around early in the morning after a few minutes of rain) but definitely inspiring. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day, gotta love old George posing upriver. Check out my flickr page for more.

Swim.Bike.Run.

Congrats to everyone who gave it their all today. It was really inspiring.

A delicious website

A few weeks ago I entered the weekly drawing on a running site I frequent called Runners Lounge. They do a weekly giveaway and they were having people create their own granola mixes on a new site called MixMyGranola and submit them. I picked all of the things I like the most in granola (berries, bananas, walnuts, etc) and gave it a clever name and I won! Well I won a $20 gift card to the site and I just received my granola this week- its DELICIOUS!! I ordered a berry mix for the fiancee and a French Vanilla granola mix with Vita Cherry powder and lots of yummy berries, bananas, walnuts and pumpkin seeds for me. Yum, yum, yum. I just wanted to share because I know I get sick of eating the same things all the time and this is a fun way to change things up and get exactly what you want. They even give you the nutritional value of your mix as you add each ingredient. It helped me stay away from adding the candy :) Enjoy.

Have a wonderful weekend, and GOOD LUCK if you're doing the NYC Triathlon tomorrow! I'll be out there as a volunteer writing race numbers on everyone's hot bods and handing out the timing chips. A friend of mine is doing the race so he got me into volunteering for it and now I'll have guaranteed entry for next year (if I can stand to get into the Hudson).

*NYC Tri photo from dougandem.wordpress.com

Happy Friday

Happy Friday Northern Manhattan!

Had to share this fantastic picture my cousin took on tour in Afghanistan.

Its a different Afghanistan than we think of or hear about on the news...