Those smells of winter, when gas is in the air

Chances are you had a beautiful weekend, enjoying the summerlike conditions. In the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where I saw the cherry blossoms in bloom, the turtles sunning themselves on rocks in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, plus a gray heron and a hawk in the trees, I had to wonder what this all means.

It's not a normal January by any circumstances, what with a martyred dictator more influential in death than in captivity, with the smell of gas wafting throughout Manhattan today, and with global warming on the rise. As I write, it's presently 59º in Lhasa, altitude 12,500 feet. Not just the climatologists are concerned; acclerating glacial melt has dire consequences, especially for the entire country of Bangladesh.

Speaking of hyperbaric gaseousness, during this beautiful weekend several Chelsea clubs were shut down by the cops, including Sol, Pink Elephant, and Crobar. Smoking? Drugs? Paperwork? Fake IDs? Too many halter tops on a warm weekend? It remains as mysterious as that smell of gas that closed subway stations, office buildings and schools today.

In fact, there were innumerable Con Ed employees out in force probing the sidewalks and sewers with interesting devices attached to long poles, trying to ferret out the source of this evil smell. Speaking of ferrets, I saw a sign at the Met food store this morning about a lost ferret. I wanted to pass this sign to Giuliani & Partners, which has trademarked Rudy's name. Old timers recall what a sworn enemy Rudy is of those dastardly weasels. Perhaps they (those weasels) are responsible for the alleged theft of Rudy's playbook last week, in which we learned of the campaign tactics he might adopt in a presidential run. (Which would have consequences for Giuliani & Partners if some of their less reputable clients were profiled, or his former wife for that matter.) However, I can't explore this topic in greater depth because "trade names and trademarks 'Rudolph Giuliani,' or 'Giuliani Partners LLC' . . . shall not be used . . . without prior written consent."

Tags:   brooklyn, con ed, crobar, pink elephant, rudy giuliani, sol, trademark

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Posted on 1/8/2007 ( Permanent Link )
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